Sweet Daisy Designs

Happy December! 24 days of Christmas Free Printable

2011-12-01T01:16:00.001-08:00

I've created a list of activities for the kids and I to do until Christmas. We will select one each day to complete. I'm hoping this will help the deployment speed along and keep us nice and busy!

I borrowed some ideas from various other websites and came up with some ideas that will work for our own family. Please feel free to use our 24 days of Christmas or create your own 24 days of Christmas with your own blank sheet. Free printable for Personal Use only, please link back to the site and let us know what ideas you've come up with!

Bracket Credit:

Wreath Update

2011-11-01T14:17:00.000-07:00

If you've followed my sporadic postings over the last couple years you may have noticed a recurring trend of my family and I moving frequently. Well that time has come again and we have moved away from our little piece of paradise outside of Yelm. We are preparing for my husbands upcoming deployment by moving closer to family. This move and deployment have me reflecting on life, people we have met, relationships that have developed and what home means to me. So while this may be just another wreath, to me this was an absolutely therapeutic piece of crafting with so much meaning behind it. I am so thankful for all of our adventures we have had and the many more adventures which are to come, the awesome people we have met on the way, the friendships we have built, and today I am really thankful for us being together as a family.

Thanks for bearing with me through all my cheese on this post, and enjoy the wreath, which is an updated version of this wreath! :)

Free Printables: Home Movie Theatre Night

2011-08-25T01:54:00.000-07:00

I put together these fun tickets for an upcoming family movie night. So grab your cuties, a movie, a blanket and some popcorn and enjoy a fun movie night on me. :) Here is a preview of the tickets...

To print the tickets click on each image below, click on the image with the magnifying glass, and print for your own enjoyment. Please personal use only. Contact me for commercial use. Thank you!

Craft Booth Design

2011-08-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! My sister and I put together a booth for the sidewalk squatters show in the parking lot next to Art in the Park in Richland. Minus the 3am nights for way too many nights it was a ton of fun! We had to scrap our original plan because we ended up being on a pretty decent incline, but we made it work and here's what we came up with for our displays...

Happy Independence Day!

2011-07-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day! We spent the 4th soaking up the sun with my sisters in a magical place. In fact we spent 4 days in this magical place and enjoyed every minute of it. In fact in the 30 minutes it took to drive from I-90 to our campground we decided this may be our new location for our property search. Have I mentioned how much I love the state of Washington!?

Oh and what's that you say about being a crafting blog? Yea, I'll get to that soon. :)

Adorable Puppets!

2011-06-27T16:27:00.000-07:00

One of these days I will get around to actually posting something that I've crafted, after almost 2 months, I'm finally starting to feel better after a severe (and lame!) back injury. But then again, I hate to make any promises because I'm famous for breaking them! ;)

Until then I've got another awesome find for you! I have a friend who just started selling these adorable puppets on ETSY. She's been making them for quite some time, and I was lucky enough to try one out for a few minutes before shipping it off for a birthday gift. They are well made, reasonably priced, even cuter (if that's possible!) in person, and Micah and Hallie absolutely LOVED it! I will most definitely be ordering more for our own family.

In fact, I already have an order in for a couple of these...

And as an extra bonus, she is always looking for more ideas, so if you have something in mind, run it by her and she'll do her best to recreate it!

So go check out her shop, Hand on Fun and visit her blog for a discount code which makes them an even sweeter deal, but hurry the code may be ending soon!

Vintage Scale

2011-06-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

Pretty much in {love} all around!

Found this beauty at the Olympia Weekend Market, pretty much my new favorite place ever!

Headband Giveaway

2011-06-16T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a giveaway from my awesome bff...

http://theorangeplum.blogspot.com/2011/06/free-headband-giveaway.html

Unfinished Projects

2011-05-01T23:41:00.000-07:00

It's confession time! I have a serious issue with starting and not finishing projects. I've tried to be better about not having so many projects going at once, but since leaving my crafting partner in crime in Virginia, I've slipped! Bad! I need someone to hold me accountable, so in a moment of weakness I thought I would see how many projects I actually have going right now.

So off I went around the house. It wasn't pretty. I have at least 15 going right now, I'm sure I missed a few and that doesn't include the 10 swarming in my head right now or any etsy projects! So here we go...

Honestly- just finished this one tonight. Yea! I'll show it to ya later this week.

This one needs touch ups on the paint and then to be hung...

Throw pillows recovered...

For those of you who have been to my house and have thought I was a HSM fanatic, I'll put your mind to ease. I've never seen the show, but they were on sale for CHEAP at Target... that orange sticker gets me every time! So here they sit- over a year later still sporting their obnoxious pinkness!

This is where it gets ugly. And there's a few more baskets like these hiding in random places. Yikes!

Super fun project which I'm waiting on the hubster for. Need him to cut some sheet metal and be home :( so I can use the jigsaw... so excited!

Another fun one!!

Micah's bed. Waiting on the hubby again on this one, although I may start building it soon!

Throw pillows for Hallie's bed.

Train duvet cover for Micah

Baby scrapbook, which were 90% finished when kids were born 3.5 years ago... and there they sit!

Just need to add some pictures!

Phew! That's rough! So many projects so little time. Good thing is, I'm still in love with all of them! So here's to be motivated to finish these before starting more!

What about you? Do you have a similar problem? Or are you awesome and finish your projects before starting another? If you are a compulsive project starter like me let's keep each other accountable and I'd love to see what you have started, just add your link here! Here's to hoping there's someone just as bad as me! ;)

Spring Flower Fondant Cake

2011-05-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

After the pirate ship masterpiece, we didn't have much time to practice with the fondant cake. It thankfully came out looking ok and we now know how to use fondant!

If we hadn't been 2.5 hours in and had 9 children frantically begging for cake at this point, :) I think we would have changed up the colors a bit on the flowers, but otherwise it turned out great!

Pirate Ship Cake

2011-04-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine 4 stay-at-home mom's, 9 kids, and a weekly play date?! The coolest 3-D pirate ship cake ever!

I'm not sure if there is an original source on the idea- I'm sure there is somewhere, but these are all over the web. It was pure chaos but the cake turned out awesome! I feel invincible now. Micah is going to get the coolest 3-D train cake this year! I'm so glad we all came together and "practiced" it eased so many fears. I can only imagine what excitement would have come from my BIL with this kind of cake.

Not only did we "practice" making the pirate ship cake, but we practiced with some Fondant as well. I'll share that one tomorrow! :)

Chocolate chip meets Oreo

2011-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Have we discussed the fact that I have a serious obsession with chocolate chip cookies? I love them. All kinds of them. Subway, Target, McDonalds, Quiznos, Otis Spunkmeyer, and for all you Utah peeps- Dough Girls (but not dough girls anymore- can't remember the name!) are some of my favorite.

From scratch at home... my favorite kind of chocolate chip cookie. Delicious.

Favorite store bought cookie. Also delicious.

Put them together and what do you get? Triple the deliciousness.

Is your mouth watering yet? Think it looks strange? One phrase for you... don't mock it 'til you try it. I was a little hesitant when I got the email with the link from my partner in crime. But I promise you, you will not be disappointed! You can find the original recipe here.

It was so good, I frantically searched around my kitchen trying to figure out what else I could stuff inside a chocolate chip cookie! Then it clicked... I knew I could go wrong with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. So I threw some shoes on the kids and we ~~walked~~ ran to the neighborhood market where I purchased a King Size Reeses. And please let me tell you. It did not disappoint. At all.

One last piece of advice for ya. I tried it with the snack size Reese's and despite the fact that the Reese's had been cross-contaminated with some type of gum or fruit candy, they were not nearly as good as the whole regular size Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. So don't cut corners, just suck it up and get a whole bag of regular Reese's. Again... you won't be disappointed- I promise! ;)

Sweetheart 1st Birthday Party

2011-04-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

My niece turned one recently and my sister put together a cute little sweetheart themed party for her, which if you ask me is so appropriate- she is a total sweetheart!

My sister was kind enough to let me in on helping with some of the crafting goodness. :) And I'll apologize now, I was having serious issues with the settings on my camera that day! I did the best with what I had from the day. So here they are.

See the great photo accordion?! It was a sweet little gift Charlene of C. Hardy Photograpy put together for both my sister and I for allowing her to use baby Rylee as a model. Totally generous, the shots of Rylee were absolutely PRECIOUS. See for yourself here.

The cupcakes were made with a butter cream frosting piped through a fancy zip-loc :), pink sprinkles, and chocolate heart candies made with candy melts and a mold.

Some of the goods, including my favorite... the vase filled with foam beads, a picture of the birthday girl, and a cute decorative flower and butterfly. Don't worry there's a better shot of it coming up. :)

See! Isn't the vase adorable!? So simple and cheap yet so cute! The favors were a simple favor bag filled with small candies and closed with a simple pink heart.

The table was sprinkled with hearts. Ultra-cute heart garland made by simply sewing together a ton of cricut cut hearts, heart shaped cheese and fruits, and even the crackers were arranged in a heart. :)

Simple paper heart garland, which I learned the hard way- sew the hearts together closer to the top of the heart or they will hang upside down. :(

She stole my ikea frame purchase and put in one of Rylee's birthday pictures, but don't worry I stole it back and filled it with the sunshine print... I show ya soon!

And one more table shot for ya!

Simple and fun, that's what we do best. :) Now I'm off to mend myself and children from this 3+ week bout of colds! Stay healthy out there, it's been brutal!

Happiest Place on Earth...

2011-04-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

We went to Disneyland a few weeks ago and no trip to Disneyland for a little girl is complete without some fancy outfits! :)

The first day she sported the full on princess dress my mom made for her and my niece.

This was hilarious, they were comparing their dresses while waiting in line. The conversation with hysterical!

And note to self- do not wait until the end of the day to take pictures of the princess diva's together. :)

The second day she wore her Minnie Mouse outfit which I made using Dana's Circle Skirt tutorial. I changed things up a little bit and added a second layer using cotton and tulle on the bottom to make it more Disney-ish. And seriously did she not get the memo?! It's supposed to be the happiest place on earth! ;)

Easter Party Invitation

2011-04-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

Just spent a wonderful spring weekend in Eastern Washington with family. I guess you know you live on the West side of WA when your son gets ultra excited that the sunshine was out! Several times we heard, "Mom! Dad! Look! The sunshine is out!" I think we've adjusted pretty well to the weather of the Pacific Northwest, but boy do I see why my family eventually left Western Washington and moved to the sunny side! But no complaints here- I love trees!

With all that said, I am now officially feeling spring! Yay!

Here's a little Spring project I put together for our church's Easter activity. Spring colors are so fun to work with!

The first font I used is Sunshine Poppy found on Dafont and click here to see more from this generous and talented artist! She's got some very cute goodies!

The second font is Smiley Monster from Kevin & Amanda. LOVE their site!

Read More http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/tutorials/blog-buttons.html#ixzz1JEIYeRCh

Tufted Headboard

2011-03-31T14:44:00.000-07:00

One minute you find yourself cleaning poop off the wall, a lil' bum, and a lil' hand (TM I? Just another great benefit of being a mom!) the next minute you're knocking off a Ballard Designs headboard! They call me ~~supermom~~ crazy!

(Woa coloring! I promise it's not neon green!)

I love the result, but think twice about making your own. I started thinking this would be an easy project... ha! I laugh at myself now. It's pretty time consuming and my forearms and fingers are killing me today! Thank goodness the hubby came to the rescue with a 2nd pair of hands or I would still be tufting today. Maybe I should clarify, upholstering the headboard- pretty easy, tufting the headboard- pretty ridiculous! Would I do it differently next time? No way! Love how it turned out, but it was definitely not the easiest project on the block.

Sadly, I was not feeling the snapping pictures along the way. So there's no tutorial, here's a couple others I found online. Ticking and Toile, Centsational Girl, Green Your Decor.

Here's the break down on my cost and a few extra tips...

Sheet of plywood cut down to size at Home Depot only $10 because I had to wait a little while and didn't take the whole thing home. LOVE that store- they are so helpful and generous!
Cheap Mattress pad cut in half and doubled up- $15 (This reduces the cost drastically and worked great!)
Fabric- $5 (I used a cheap twin sheet from Walmart and just doubled it up. This also lowered cost)
Package of Batting (which I used for other projects as well)- $5
Spray glue- $5 (already had on hand, and will use in the future)
Loooong heavy duty needle- $1
Upholstery thread- $2 (already had on hand, and again will use in the future)
Washers/Screws/Nails- $2ish (already had all on hand)

Tools used were...

Jigsaw- To cut out the design. I free handed one side, then used a piece of large paper to duplicate on the other side.
Drill- To drill the holes in the back for tufting. Make the holes LARGE, it will make finding the hole so much easier when you are coming back through- learned that the hard way. :)
Staple gun- for attaching the batting and fabric to the plywood.
Ruler- To mark all of the spots for tufts. I actually found a quilting ruler/guide worked wonders!

Now we just need pillows and wall art!

Treasury Fun

2011-03-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure out how I've missed out on this fun for so long! Creating a treasury is SO fun, but very time consuming- probably why I've stayed away for this long. Here's what I came up with...

You can see the real thing here.

And by the way thanks for all your input on the Sunshine Print! I'm leaning towards 2 or 5. I've printed them both on the home computer and am headed to the store to try them each out in a frame. We'll go from there. :) Can't wait to show you what I pull together for the rest of her room- fun fun fun!

You are my sunshine print

2011-03-26T02:42:00.000-07:00

On a whim while on our Mommy-daughter "date" this evening at our only local super store, Wal-Mart, (and by local I mean a 20 minute drive- have I mentioned I live in the boonies!?) we bought an adorable new spring quilt for Hallie's bed. Despite all of my attempts at persuasion to get her to pick the one I originally spotted, she insisted on the "girly" quilt which consisted of pink, green, orange, and yellow. Luckily it fit in with the color scheme I was going for. So with another project for her bed in the works, this quilt was the extra push I needed to really get her room ~~done~~ started.

She has no artwork in her room at this point and while sitting here this evening I came up with a fun idea. And now have 6 variations which I can't decide between! So the 2 of you :) who actually read this blog consistently (hi!) any thoughts? Which print is your fav?
1.

Can I get a witness!?

2011-03-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

I just got an enthusiastic, "ok" from the hubster when I told him I would like to build a table like this.

It makes my heart flutter! Now off to find some salvaged 2x6's...

Spring Tiered Dress... Everything looks better at the beach!

2011-03-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

With spring just around the corner, I've been sewing away for the little Halster. So many fun dresses and skirts! But sadly since moving to the PNW, it's not so springy out and I haven't been able to get very many photos of her fancy new attire. Insert vacay to California and hooray! This is just how all of her dresses should be photographed, if only I had known we would have done a little fashion show on the beach. :)

So done with the rambling, here's the dress...

Made using another dress as a guide and some simple math. I used great spring fabric from the quilter's showcase line at JoAnn's with the awesome price tag of $2.50 a yard. :)

It's bound to put a bounce in anyone's step!

Perfect for hunting on the beach...

dancing...

following daaad around...

Cuddling with mom...

And all other kinds of beach fun...

So get springy and make your own!

3-D Photo Cards

2011-02-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

What?! You've already moved on to St. Patty's day? Easter? Well I'm still stuck on Valentine's Day. :)

I discovered the brilliance of 3-D cards at Craft-O-Maniac which she found here. And the "snickers" idea Jen shared at Craft-O-Maniac was brilliant as well. And since we needed fun easy Valentine's we decided to do some of our own. Here's our versions...

The kids had a great time posing for the pictures and they were seriously SO easy! Took pictures, edited on picnik, sent to Costco, picked up 2 hours later, candy bought, candy glued and tucked. So simple!

Growth Chart Tutorial

2011-02-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Better late than never! I've had this little idea in my head for 3 whole years! I'm tellin' ya- I'm a world class procrastinator! :) So sad since it was such an easy project to do, but like I said better late than never!

So here we go..

Supplies:
The simplest growth chart vinyl you can find.
6' 1x6
Paint
Cute paper numbers
Modge Podge or spray adhesive

Start with finding your supplies...
Make yours or the one I ordered was from here, but I don't think she's selling the actual vinyl anymore, you can find more here, here, or here. It can be difficult to find a basic chart since there are so many with cute embellishments, in fact I didn't find any... I had one with just numbers and the ruler and cut the numbers off. (anyone want my vinyl numbers!?) With the links I provided, I would try to contact the seller and see if they would do a custom one for you- it may be cheaper that way too. :) Wow... that was a novel on something that was supposedly simple ;) That's probably the hardest part. :)

The rest should be pretty self-explanatory. :)

1. Paint your board and let it completely dry. You don't have to wait the 6 months or use your board to help you pick blackberries and then repaint it and wait another month like I did. :) It will probably dry in a couple hours.

2. Line up your tape measure next to your board. (Hopefully your carpet isn't as horrible as mine... dis-gust-ing!) Ignore the vinyl on there- we'll get to that part soon. For now, just put your tape measure next to your board.

You can decide for yourself but I started mine at 1' to allow my board to be tall enough for my bound-to-be tall children.

See... not joking, my board goes up to 7' not that I'm expecting my children to be that tall, but since I measure up at 5'10" and the hubby at 6'5" I figured we'd better leave enough room just in case. :)

3. Apply the vinyl

Find something within arm reach to make sure the first dash on your vinyl lines up straight. A ruler would suffice.

Begin applying the vinyl like so...

Peel off the transfer tape which can be a little tricky. I found the best method was to pull up to the next dash and use my bone folder to press the dash to the board.

Continue until all of your vinyl is applied.

4. Add the numbers

I used 7 different coordinating papers from my stash and fed them through the cricut machine. I used Plantin Schoolbook "Shadow" for my numbers. They ranged anywhere from 3 1/4" to 5" I wanted them to be odd sizes, just play with it until you think it looks great! If you don't have a fancy die cutting machine you could easily freehand it or print numbers and use them as a stencil.

Here's a closer look at the numbers...

5. Glue numbers on.

I attempted to use spray adhesive, but wasn't a huge fan. I will most likely used modge podge to fix them.

And that's it you're done! Stand back and admire your work. :)

Almost forgot logistics...

1. Hanging the board.
To hang your board I will attach a ribbon to the back with heavy duty staples and to prevent it from swinging I will use command strips along the board. Make sure you hang the board at the correct height, the bottom of mine will be 1' off the ground.

2. Charting Growth
If you use a darker color as I did, I will be using cute circle stickers to mark height. You could simply change the paint color so you could write directly on the board.

Enjoy!

Children's Train Wall Art

2011-02-05T10:57:00.000-08:00

To say my son LOVES trains is a serious understatement. His life revolves around them. Here's my attempt at some digital artwork for his room.

I love it! It's fun, whimsical, and just what I pictured!

More Letter Art

2011-01-28T16:57:00.000-08:00

Speaking of Letter Art, my sister and I were feeling a little nutty and created this beauty for my dad's upcoming birthday. Totally 100% appropriate for my dad! We thought we were pretty hilarious, the hubby not so much. Deep down he knows he loves it :) At least he better because this will be his I-hate-commericalized-Valentine's-Day-so-we-small-gift-each-other-just-before-Valentine's-Day-Gift! I had them printed out at costco on a 5x7 photo and will frame it- they'll make a great classy, but not classy, fun decor item for the bathroom, office, or man cave. :)

And please feel free to download one for yourself or the goofball in your fam! Just right click and save the file. Enjoy!

Be sure to click here for details on inspiration and how to make your own.

Photo's used in this creation were found in Leo Reynold's Flikr Photostream

Family Letter Art

2011-01-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

I instantly fell in love with this project by Amy of My 3 Monsters found on a guest post at Under the Table and Dreaming.

So a visit from my sister and several months later, I finally completed mine. They are SO fun! Leo Reynold's photostream is nothing short of amazing. I could have, oh wait I DID, spend hours browsing through the vast array of photos. And how generous of him to share his photographs. (Be sure to visit the copyright info if using his photos, basically you are free to share and remix the work under the following conditions... Attribution, non-commerical, and share alike!)

Absolutely, positively LOVE it!!! I just ordered it as a 16x20 canvas and can't wait until it shows up! Hooray!

Amazon Sweet Deal

2011-01-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Have you all heard of

LivingSocial?

They are one of the many sites out there nowdays offering a "daily deal" which comes to your inbox every morning. You can personalize your location so you can get great deals near the city you live in. You can also set the settings so you DON'T get daily deals in your inbox every morning if you're overloaded with "junk mail." But this is definitely one you don't want to miss out on!

Today's Deal is a $20 Amazon gift card for $10, but if you sign up through this link you should get $5 in deal bucks, which means you can get $5 off another daily deal!
**edited, they must have realized how great of a deal it really was, you sadly can no longer use the $5 in deal bucks on this deal, but $20 for $10 on Amazon is still a seriously sweet deal- plus $5 off something in the future!**

Are you still here, still reading? If so, stop and run now before they run out.

And to be totally fair and honest, I will also get $5 in deal bucks when any of you purchase the deal AFTER using this link to sign up. So help yourself and share it with your friends as well so you can get more deal bucks!

The Real Deal: A Doll House

2011-01-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Remember this guy? I made him during "snowmageddon" when I was snowed in at home (thankfully with power) by myself with 2 toddlers, without a computer or tv, and a hubby who's flight couldn't get in for almost a week. If you're really bored you can revisit it here.

This baby withstood the test of time and children... it was sturdy, fun and cheap. But then we moved. Sadly it didn't make the cross country cut.

So I decided it was time for the real deal...

Thank you google for finding me this wonderful website. Go look NOW!

http://www.letsbuildadollhouse.com/

There are some amazingly talented peeps out there and it's like there's a whole little culture out there of doll house fanatics... I love it! I am by no means as talented as some of the amazing doll housers (great word huh?!) out there! I'm merely dabbling in a culture and moving on. :)

This little diva just turned 2 and the little princess in the background just turned 3, and they both deserved a great doll house.

So doll house they got!

Maddies...

And Hallies...

Wanna make your own? While time consuming- it's easier than you think! So head on over to Let's Build a Doll House and make a plan. I don't want to call this a "tutorial" because I most definitely followed the plans found on the Let's Build a Doll House site, but I'll share my process and experiences with you here. Make sure you visit the Let's Build a Doll House site for all the details.

Head on over to Let's Build a Doll House and print off the cut plan.

I then headed to my local-not-so-local home depot with kids in tow. We were all excited!! I threw the kids in the "car cart" (Thank you Home Depot, you are brilliant! Why do all stores not have these!?) grabbed 2 3/16" sheets of plywood (because I was making 2, if you only make 1 doll house you'll only need 1 sheet), found an always willing big orange employee and showed him the plan I had drawn up on graph paper. We brainstormed and came up with a great cut plan.

So while he cut, I wrote...

The next day I put the kids to bed and began my work.

I measured and drew lines. Angles for the roof, guidelines for the windows, and the doors. The instructions are all laid out in the plans found here and here. This part was time consuming, but worth it for even measurements. You'll have lines all over your plywood, but that's ok you'll paint it soon enough.

Next, I recruited some help, drilled holes to begin windows, learned how to use a jig-saw, got booted from using the jig-saw because I was too slow, and cut out all windows and doors.

You'll take your 1/2" molding and use wood glue and some heavy duty staples. Our doll house differs here a little than what Jennifer shares on her site. We added a strip on the bottom for extra stability when assembling the house since the houses would soon be at the hands of 2 toddlers.

We then began to assemble the house. Wood glue, brad nailer, and heavy-duty staple gun were our best friends and it's much easier if you have 2 sets of hands to assemble. You could probably do it by yourself with a few clamps, but WAY easier with another set of hands- so do what you gotta do and get a helper there!

Add sides to bottom, followed by the front to the sides

Then add middle floor, any room dividers, and finally the top floor

We used a lid and ruler to create the shape of the roof and cut it out with the jigsaw. Then attached it with our trusty glue and nailer.

I then painted the floors, which would probably be much easier to paint before assembly- so learn from my mistake. Next add trim, you can use either Popsicle sticks or better yet balsa strips. Most definitely paint these prior to gluing in.

Paint your beauty.

Next step was to add the shingles. Grab your huge box, were talking 300 Popsicle sticks huge, of large Popsicles, pop in a good movie or 2 and begin cutting the sticks into about 5 equal pieces. You'll want to use a pretty heavy duty pair of scissors- I used kitchen shears, and boy did my hands hurt! Yikes!

And that was even with alternating between cutting and gluing. I used a hot glue gun to attach the shingles to the roof. I found it worked best to do a glob of glue for each shingle and I did a row of about 4-6 at a time and then quickly attached the shingles before the glue dried. Make sense? No? Let's try again... glue a row of globs on the roof, then attach shingles quickly before glue dries. Don't worry too much about the strings, clean off what you can and the spray paint with disguise the rest.

Tape off your house and spray paint the shingles. Then enjoy your rockin' real deal doll house!

Next step- better furniture...

Whew! If you made it this far I'll add the disclaimer that I started this post way back in September! Wow. So if this post doesn't flow well- that's why!

Love it, Hallie loves it, and the post is finally done- I'm a happy camper! :)

Checkin' My List

2010-12-06T20:21:00.000-08:00

As my son has so excitedly been saying lately, "I'm on the NAUGHTY list!" Thank you Classic Christmas cd for teaching my child to be excited about being on the naughty list... I think we need to have a chat about what the naughty list actually means! ;)

When it comes to December's To-do list, I'm pretty sure I've made the naughty list. There's so many things to do and I haven't started a thing!

Does your to-do list look like this?

No? Well mine doesn't either anymore, I've thankfully moved on to a nicer, more crisp notebook which will soon be destroyed as well!

Well I'm ready to start checking stuff off my list! Yes... it really looks like this, see all those lonely boxes!? I have SO much left to do!

Thank you Shutterfly for making my life a little easier! Have you heard about their 2010 Holiday Card collection promotion? No? Well seriously jump on over here and sign up! You have until this Friday to register.

So not only will I be checking off "Order Christmas Cards" thanks to Shutterfly's adorable line of Christmas Photo Cards I'll be doing it in style!

Look at some of these... so fun!

I'll also be crossing off 2 gifts! Next on the list is a great personalized gift- Photo Calender for the Grandparents of the fam. Can't go wrong with pictures of the grandkids right!? But shhh... don't tell, we can't spoil the surprise. :)

And last but definitely not least I'll finally be crossing off the mound of Thank you's I'll need to write after the holidays with Shutterfly's great selection of photo cards.

This post is part of the Shutterfly 2010 Holiday Photo Card Promotion. See details here.

All about Me Day 3: Favorite Movie

2010-11-29T22:29:00.001-08:00

Wow so that regular blogging thing isn't really happening, but here's day 3 a few days late...

All time favorite movie...

Top Gun!!!!

30 days: Day 2 My Favorite Song

2010-11-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

So hard to pick just one!

I LoVe any and all Christmas music, I'd listen to it all year round if I could- oh wait sometimes I do. :) Christmas music brings such a great feeling of peace. If I had to pick an absolute favorite it would be "Silent Night"

My other top favs-

I Stand All Amazed

An Amen Kinda Love- Daryl Singletary

Anything Garth Brooks- I LOVE Garth

Twinkle Little Star- because Micah and Hallie love it

And the list goes on...

30 days: Day 1 A Recent Photo of Myself

2010-11-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

A rarity that I have a recent photo of myself. We were just leaving the Great Train Expo in Puyallup a couple weekends ago.

If you haven't noticed I've been in a blogging funk... again. So this will hopefully get me jump started and it's so fun to meet others so join in here...

Let's get this party started!

2010-11-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

Hi. Remember me? I have such a horrible habit of disappearing for weeks at a time! Don't worry, as usual I've been crafting like crazy, right now I'm on the mission to clear out my fabric stash so I can justify some black Friday finds!

I'm SO ready for the holidays, how about you? To get them started I'm having a great special on our cozies!

Purchase 2 Cozies for just $14! or 3 for $20!

You can find them in my shop here.

Stock up now for great Christmas gifts for teachers, friends, family, or better yet yourself! Just add a gift card to your coffee shop of choice and you've got a great gift for just about anyone.

And I couldn't be more excited about some great new items including great hair accessories, bags, sippy cup leashes, and more that will make their appearance following Thanksgiving.
Could I throw a few more exclamation points in there!? Just did :) I'm a little excited if you couldn't tell. :)

Are you still with me? Good. You'll be glad.

Many of the items pictured here and here are still for sale, they will be making an appearance at a little craft show in Eastern WA before Thanksgiving, unless you tell me differently! Just email if interested or check back on my shop next week!

Crushing on Washington and other Randomness...

2010-11-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Remember my 79 cent shutters? Hard to forget aren't they! I think I've figured out what to do with them, simple and quick but hopefully cute!

Well look what else I found at the same thrift store...

I so fell in love with the rustic wood and my living room is in need of some major decorations, I thought for sure it would be the perfect size for this picture.

And it is, but wait! Take a step back...

And one more step. Look! I think I may actually like the painting that's in there.

Am I crazy?! Do you agree?

The hubster agrees so I think we may leave it... are we both crazy?!

It reminds me of this picture I took last weekend while skipping church with a sick little one. I continue to be amazed by the beauty in this area! I feel so blessed to have lived in so many great places.

And I don't think I'll ever tire of taking pictures of this Mountain or according to rugrat #2 "The dormant volcano." These were taken straight from the car- I'm totally having a WA state crush!

Next time maybe I should back up or get out of the car so I don't cut out the tree :)

More crushing, if only it would stay this sunny for the whole year :)

And what's even funnier, after editing and playing with these pictures Sunday eve, I'm noticing a color trend, so maybe the painting was meant to be!?

Randomness for sure! If you made it this far have a happy weekend!

Shutter Envy

2010-11-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

That's what you'll have after I tell you how much I paid for these beauties! My mouth almost hit the floor when she told me the price at the counter... don't know about you, but when thrift stores/garage sales don't have their things marked they are usually expensive or I'm too scared to ask- I know I'm lame and shy. :) This time I'm glad I asked! And I may now be encouraged to ask every time...

79 cents!!!!
that's $1.58 total $1.71 if you guesstimate WA sales tax in there (No clue what I actually pay now, I need to stop moving!)

Seriously. That's less than $2 for this delicious soon-to-be-something-great-in-my-house. Shutter envy I know!

And here's where you come in...

I have Shutter Envy with all of these amazing shutter projects...

This one from Tortoise and the Hare...

And because of my terminal rental status, I can only dream of this one found at Olive and Love...

Love what Paisley Wallpaper did with her shutters here.

And what Allison at A Glimpse Inside did with her shutters- love the color contrast!

Or this creative clutter hider at Crafty Nest...

Or this great message board at How Does She?

Now I have some serious shutter envy! I could go on and on, but Target is calling and I must respond!

What to do, what to do... Thoughts?

Railroad Crossing Sign

2010-11-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Anyone have a little Engineer like I do? One that can spot a train from a mile away? One that remembers where every potential railroad crossing is in the state? :)

Well then he or she will probably love this addition to their room or playroom as much as my "Mr. Conductor" does!

This sign is so simple it will be hard NOT to make one for your little engineer!

First gather your supplies:

**I will include the dimensions and supplies I used, but one of the reasons I love this project is that it is easily adapted to whatever supplies you have on hand or whatever is easily attainable! I'll include suggestions in parentheses.**

2- 2.75"x22" pieces of 1/8" (you could use 2 pieces of thin plywood from your local craft store found in the wood/dollhouse aisle OR use white foam board)

1- sheet of card stock (you could use vinyl, purchase pre-cut vinyl letters from office aisle, or print and cut letters from word document)

White paint

Modge Podge

Foam Paint Brush

Wood Glue

Staple Gun

1. Attach your 2 pieces of wood together.

Line them up by eye-balling it or if you want to be exact use and angle. I glued them together and added 5 staples just to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.

2. Paint your board. Spray paint or acrylic craft paint will do the trick.

3. Cut out your letters.

I used my Cricut with black cardstock and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge set at 3 inches. But remember you could easily use vinyl, purchase pre-cut vinyl letters from office aisle, or print and cut letters from word document. I would strongly suggest cutting out one letter before doing all to be sure you have the right size. :)

4. Glue your letters on using Modge Podge.

Do one coat under letters gluing as you go...

And a 2nd coat to seal and coat all the letters...

5. To hang your sign I used Command Velcro Strips (Love them!)

Enjoy it in all it's glory!

Best part of the project for me? No money out of pocket! I used all supplies I had on hand... seriously cute and seriously cheap!

edited again! sorry I've posted this same post 4 times now! I should know by now to preview before posting!

Nightstands Turned Shelf!

2010-10-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

I found this random junk pile in a soon-to-be neighborhood near us while looking for blackberry bushes one day.

No wonder people put up signs like this!

I really don't get why anyone would just dump their things on someones property, there are so many places to drop off unwanted goods. Sadly I found this hot spot after it had rained for a couple days, so I missed out on a couple great and fun chairs that were water-logged. :(

But I did find this beauty.

Ok really I didn't find it like this I found two nightstands looking much like this only way dirtier and with weird flying bugs crawling on it! Seriously the things I will do for a free item- I question my sanity sometimes!

To turn it from 2 of those to this...

Recruit some free labor...

1. Prepare the furniture- Clean and Sand.

The pieces that I found were nightstands with drawer units. I couldn't find the drawers in the mass mess, so I had to remove screws and drawer stoppers.

2. Assemble your shelf. Stack the 2 pieces, use wood glue and glue the top to the bottom, then attach the 2 pieces with a flat metal bracket, see a similar one called a Flat joining plate. (sorry I didn't get a picture of mine!) I used one bracket with 4 holes placed horizontally between the 2 nightstands. 2 screws going into each nightstand.

3. Glue 4 wood shelves into place. I used 1/4" plywood found in the scraps section at Home Depot and had them cut down the scraps to the size I needed. I paid $1.00 total for them and the cuts- big spender I know! :)

Two of my shelves were a little off so I had to use some heavy-duty sand paper and sand them down to be even with the nightstand. (as seen in above photo)

4. Much to your hubby's dismay paint your beauty spicing up your boring white-walled rental!

I used a foam roller and a cheapo foam brush and it left a great finish- no priming here. :)

5. Finish shelf backing. I took the false bottoms from the original nightstand, cut 2 of them down to size with the jig-saw. Shh... don't tell the hubby I used it while he wasn't here- he gets a little worried with me and power tools especially since we live in the boonies. And his worry is probably rightfully deserved- I am the daughter of the same man who lost parts of fingers on 2 separate occasions! 1st to a cement mixer when he was in his 20's and the 2nd time to a table saw while working on the cabinets for our basement bathroom. And I most definitely carry his clumsy genes! Phew that was a tangent! Back on track...

I wasn't too worried about the appearance so I put a light coat of paint on both sides then covered the board with fabric. I used hot glue to secure it to the back side of the board, wrapping it like a present.

6. Attach shelf backing. I attached the 4 different backing pieces using a heavy duty staple gun.

7. Move your shelf on inside and decorate!

This one will end up in my daughters room and will most likely be adorned with a plethora of toys plus a couple extra goodies. Just need to find some better baskets! :)

Final cost of this project was approximately $7.00!
Nightstands= FREE!
Shelves= $1.00
Quart of Paint= $4.00 (purchased from habitat restore!)
Fabric=~$2.00 (probably less, fabric was clearance at JoAnn's about a year ago!)

This most definitely was a hodge-podge project and tutorial, so please ask if you need more info on any particular step!

AND if you made it all the way to here, I've got another super great labor intensive project that I just finished last night as well! I'll try to get it up soon! :)

New look!

2010-10-14T21:50:00.000-07:00

Have you seen our new look?! It's great I'm in LOVE with it! It's all thanks to the ultra-talented Lindi from Love the Day, who on a side note is even a greater person than her parties- and they're beyond great! I absolutely love her sunshine party, so happy and bright, I can't help but smile while looking at it!

I could go on and on about Lindi AND all she does, but I'll save you some time and go take a look for yourself. You can visit her blog here or etsy shop here. You won't be disappointed!

But before you go grab my fancy new button and enjoy! :)

Bags, Bags, Bags

2010-10-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have some serious bags under my eyes tomorrow! I think the bound to be foggy morning may call for a hot chocolate and glazed donut from Starbucks on my way to the big blue store of goodness (ie IKEA!!!) AND the best news is, I only have 1 child- the one who's potty trained, which means I'll enjoy an hour of shopping all-by-myself! I'm stoked, hopefully my excitement and a little Starbucks will erase the bags under my eyes from staying up so late for no real good reason!

Here's the rest of the story...

I'm bagged out for a few days, I'll be changing things up a bit and working on one of the many projects I've got going on around here! I've got a big one in the works and it doesn't involve a sewing machine!

Notebooks and Bags

2010-10-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a great couple of weeks crafting here...

A composition notebook cover done in possibly still my favorite fabric! I've used it for a toddler skirt, the 'anna' bag, and coffee cozies. I've got 4 fresh new yards so I'm sure we'll be seeing some more of it!

A smaller version of this bag, in this delicious yellow fabric which is on it's way out. It was part of a large stash I snagged from the hubsters grandma's stash, there's not much left but one thing is for sure- I'll make good use of it! :)

But first things first, things can not go on like this anymore!

Something has seriously got to be done about this mess! Like I said it's been a great couple weeks of crafting around this joint! Time to finally finish putting together my crafting area... wish me luck!

Mirror Redo

2010-10-09T00:07:00.000-07:00

I'm absolutely loving the intricate frames right now!

This one fit in well with my Message Board Frame (turned menu board) and received the same blue spray paint treatment, but before we see the final product can we talk about what we see in the mirror!? I am absolutely loving our new surroundings! I love the fact that we can take little "hikes" all around our neighborhood, I love that I look out my window and see pine trees all around, and I love that it smells like camping in my very own house! So try to look past the beauty in the reflection and check out that mirror!

Farmer's Market Booth and Goodies

2010-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a few pictures I managed to snap in the morning sun this last weekend while at the Farmer's Market

Here we are sandwiched in all our glory between the best (and friendliest) salsa guy ever and the funniest "Crabie Apple Ladies" So sad I won't physically be there next week to spend the morning with these hilarious ladies and to eat some of their delicious carmel apples and popcorn!

The Random Shelf of goodness!

Cozy section and wine bottle fountain

Hair bow and Headband table

Delicious mirror which you'll see more of later. :)

If you made it to the end of the post last week you'll recognize the candle holders, here they are in all their glory and there's 3 of them! Hooray for a replacement!

Headbands displayed on the coolest candle stick ever! I think I may have actually jumped for joy when I spotted this beauty at Goodwill!

Hair accessories galore!

Bags galore!

***Bags and hair clips will be making an appearance soon in my shop, until then, if you see one you absolutely have to have, let me know and I'll pull it from our booth inventory!***

Shop is up and running and other random cuteness!

2010-10-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

A couple months later I finally have my shop back up and running! Hooray! I feel almost silly posting this here, because I've already sold a bundle of cozies I had listed, but there's still some cute one's left and really let's be totally honest I'm not sure how much traffic my poor neglected blog generates! I will be adding some cute upcycled market bags, and some other goodies over the next couple weeks so we'll have more than just cozies! :) Now everyone pray we won't have anymore moves for AT LEAST 8 more months and that any moves around that time will be to a house of our own or I'd even settle for on the same side of the country!

In all other randomness...

Craft show last weekend was a great experience, but all I can do is tell you about it because I failed big time and got NO PICTURES! But no worries, I'm headed to the farmer's market this weekend in my hometown, so that'll be the first thing I do. Hopefully I can duplicate our booth from last weekend because (skipping all humility here) it was adorable! Looking forward to hanging with my sis at our booth and crafting some more!

Here's your reward through making it through all that nonsense, or if you skipped over my wordiness just enjoy the goods, but (self-promotion here!) go check out my updated shop!

I scored these ugly-color-cool-looking candle sticks at goodwill

and turned them into...

Why are there only 2? My sis broke one last week, but have no fear I went back and bought the remaining one at goodwill, it's still in the process of be repainted!

Love them!

Melt my heart...

2010-09-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Hallie decided to join in on the crafting fun this week, she wanted to cut fabric instead of paper so I gave her a piece of scrap fabric. She loved every minute and told me, "I'm making a dress for mommy, not for me, for mommy ok." So sweet, she even had to sit at my desk to "finish it." I think we may need to make up some simple doll clothes soon!

Please ignore the disheveled appearance! It was right after nap time!

Crafting til' I can't craft no more...

2010-09-23T13:39:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've wanted to try a craft show for a while now, but fear of the unknown got me and I haven't made the plunge. Insert great sister and bam, she signs you guys up for a show in your hometown. Ahhhh! I'm so excited, a little nervous, and SO tired! With 2 days left until the show, I've got at least 3 more bags/purses to finish, and a whole bunch of other little projects, and I've got to finalize out displays... yikes!

I'm sure it will all come together and it will be a great learning experience, so if you're in the local area come keep me company at the 3rd Annual Greener Living and Harvest Celebration at Snoqualmie Winery. And while your in town don't forget to enjoy the great Prosser Balloon Rally... great fun for the whole fam!

Snoqualmie invites the public to celebrate the fall wine harvest and the natural quality of the Northwest at its third annual Greener Living & Harvest Celebration on the winery grounds in Prosser, WA.

Visitors can enjoy locally sourced bites paired with Snoqualmie’s organically produced Naked wines, listen to jazz music from the Vintage Reserve Jazz Band, and browse the offerings from green-focused local vendors.

Admission is free and open to the public. Snoqualmie is located at 660 Frontier Road, Prosser. For more information, contact the winery.

Wine Bottle Fountain

2010-09-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

My Brother-in-law just put this rockin' Wine Bottle Fountain together last week... gorgeous don't ya think!? Perfect item for Washington Wine Country! He will be selling them at local craft fairs and by request.

Stickin' with the Trains

2010-09-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

I love the Internet. I'm searching for vintage type train items for decorating Micah's room and came across this train on ebay. Gotta love the guns to the head and man smoking a cigar... not exactly something I want hanging up in my child's room, but good for a laugh during my search. Find the item by clicking here.

I came across the most perfect train on ebay as well, sadly we won't be purchasing it with the hefty price tag of $650.00. Check out the perfect colors! I love it! Think he'd sell it if I offered him $20? Doesn't hurt to dream right?! I'll be on the look out for a less-than-perfect set for hopefully a-whole-lot-cheaper! :)

And if you have $650 to spare and want to help me decorate his room :), you can find it here.

I've got expensive taste! Just fell in love with this one as well. $650 doesn't sound so bad when you check this trian made in 1875 with a measly price tag of $2,750, but at least they offer free shipping right!? Find it here.

Take 3...

2010-08-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Are you sick of this picture yet!? I may be a semi-biased (ok prob a big time biased) mommy, but I still LOVE it!

I think I'm getting there with the right look?! I've learned so much about photoshop in the last 2 days and I don't think I've even scratched the surface...

One of these days I may actually get back to doing something really crafty, but sadly I'm kinda in a slump! I'm feeling a little overwhelmed- there's so much that could be done on the crafty list, that I don't know where to start. And to top that off, I'm experiencing some fabric-cutting anxiety! Does anyone else get this... a great gorgeous piece of material and so many different options for cuteness, and then there's the whole 'what if I mess up' thought! Ugh! Silly I know, something I'm working on overcoming. We've got a great fun weekend planned so crafting may be limited until next week... we'll see. :)

Take 2...

2010-08-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Photo Fun

2010-08-30T00:35:00.000-07:00

We took a step back in time this weekend and rode a steam train in the foothills of Mt. Rainier. It was a great afternoon, one we won't forget. Love those days! While waiting for our return train I snapped this classic photo... it's destined for our poor lonely white bare walls! So help me please! Any photo editing tips, any favorite tricks, tutorials?!
This is what I have so far, using the Photo Grunge Effect Tutorial

Original:

Better? Too 'edited'? Favorite?

Bathroom Wall Hanging Tutorial

2010-08-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

In a quest to spruce up the bathroom I took a piece I already had, Hallie's hair bow holder, which I wasn't in love with and turned it from

Drab...

To fab...

Love bathroom lighting, someday I may be smart enough to really be able to counter the nasty bathroom lighting effect with Mr. Canon, but until then we'll just take it outside. :)

Here's the tutorial...

Supplies

12x12 Basic Wood Frame- Found at most craft stores, for around $7, use 40% coupon and love your savings!

12x12 cardboard (thick), cork board, foam board, wood, etc.

Spray paint

Hot Glue

Double sided sticky tape

14x14 piece of fabric- fat quarter would be great for this!

2 Contrasting Fabric strips- 2x44"

Coordinating Ribbon/embellishments

Felt or other backing fabric

Getting Started:

1. Spray Paint Your Frame Front, back and sides in a well ventilated area- please. And keep those kiddos away! If they are like mine, they'll be instantly attracted to it- "5 steps back! Go go go!" But hopefully they can't count and you lose track. :)

2. Iron the heck out of your 14x14 piece of fabric- my piece is not 14x14, it was the only scrap I had left. You'll basically just want to make sure that your fabric is big enough to cover the front and sides of your cardboard/foam/cork board plus about 2 inches.

3. Use Double-sided sticky tape on the front side. Lay your cork board on top of the fabric and press it down evenly. This will help your fabric stay put. I love Wonder Tape, this stuff takes the sticking business seriously. (and sadly I'm not being paid to say that!) I would have used a bit more, but I used the last off my roll, and I live in the boonies now so no more quick craft store/target runs for this girl anymore. :(

***Before going any farther, let's talk about the cork board/cardboard/foam board/wood. Use what you have, what's easiest for you to find. I used cork board, because that's what I had in the frame beforehand. Any of the above will work just fine, my only recommendation is make sure the cardboard is thick enough. For stability you probably want it to be around 1/4" thick. And make sure it will hold up to any moisture you may have in your bathroom! :)***

4. Wrap your board like you would a present. Use glue around the edges. I used quick grip (love this stuff!), but you could use your hot glue gun as well. I glued all the way around the edge of the board and pulled the fabric tight as I folded it over the edge. Then glue the "flaps" down to the back of the board.

Ignore the glue gun in the pic, that's a later step, just wanted to show you the back wrapped like a present. Nice even ugly edges- scrap piece remember. Yours can be pretty and even if you start with a 14x14 piece of fabric. :)

5. Now it's time to embellish your board. Have fun with this one. It took me a full day of playing with it here and there to figure out what I wanted to put on there.

6. Make Fabric Flowers

7. Glue brads, beads, or sparklies to your flower. Figure out arrangement, then glue ribbon petals, beads, and flowers to your board. Make sure you pick off all of the little glue drops! I see I missed a couple... oops. :)

8. Use hot glue to attach the cork board to the frame.

9. Make sure your doggies are under control and snap a 1000 pics of your cute new wall hanging!

Linking here...

Shower Curtain

2010-08-20T15:24:00.000-07:00

The bathroom at the house we just moved from was YELLOW, and I say yellow in all caps because it was wrapped in yellow tile 2/3rds of the wall high. It was like a yellow jacket threw up all over the walls. It was just YELLOW. Instead of my first instinct which was to rebel and decorate it with my staples of brown and blue, it just didn't seem right. So I embraced the YELLOW and went with it. I created this shower curtain... and loved it! It was the perfect amount of calm amidst all the YELLOW.

Move on to our new bathroom, everything in the house is white. Basic oak cabinets and white... white everywhere! Gotta love rentals right!? :)

Now sadly it's a little boring! But have no fear... I will have to get a little more crazy with the accessories! Stay tuned for accessory #1...

Kid's Table Redo

2010-08-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

I shared a link with you to Savy Chic Home with her {adorable} use of color on her kid's table. I was so struggling with what to do to add some cuteness to M&H's table, I wanted to do something fun and bright, but still sophisticated enough to reside in the main living area of our house.

So thank you Savy Chic Home! I now have a table that makes me smile every time I see it!

The hubster referred to the table as primary colors, silly boys this is WAY cuter than primary colors!

Here she sits on our porch until we get some better porch furniture...

Yup... still giddy inside, love it!

Bags, Bags, Bags

2010-08-17T14:19:00.000-07:00

A girl can never have too many bags right!? I mentioned I scored on some cute fabric at a consignment store and I was in desperate need of a new diaper bag/mommy bag/purse, my old one had seen better days. So I broke out some of my cheap cheap fabric- think $2.25 a yard for canvas with VERY generous measurements- think 1.5-2 yards measured at a yard... score!

I went freestyle on this one, so I'll be mixing up another and I'll share the tutorial with you when I can get'er done!

Here she is...

I added the contrasting fabric, but wanted something a little more than a regular strip of fabric, so I ruffled the band...

Added a signature flower with a pink button for some extra pop...

I love to open this bag! The inside is just as fun as the outside!

I really need to find a better place to take pictures in this house! But here she is in all her glory on my kitchen counter...

Happy Tuesday :)

Spring Wreath Tutorial

2010-08-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

A few of you asked for some specifics on the spring wreath, so here ya go...

I love this wreath because it was a simple and easy project which can easily be changed through the seasons!

Supplies You'll need...

A cheapo twig wreath, I bought mine from Michael's

A wooden letter which fits inside your wreath- found at any craft store

Some twine, yarn, heavy duty string- use whatever you have on hand

Fabric scraps- 2x44" to hang the wreath, 2x24" (at least 24" but preferably longer) for the smaller flowers and 3.5x24" (again at least 24" but preferably longer) for big flower

Buttons

Heavy Duty Staple Gun

1. Attach wooden letter

First step, to attach the wooden letter, I stapled two staples, one on each side and tied a piece of twine around each staple and then tied it to the back of the wreath. I wanted my "T" to hang at an angle, so I had to play around with it a little to get it to the right position. Cut any excess twine, yarn, or thread.

2. Make The Fabric Flowers

You are basically just going to gather one side of a long strip of fabric, then form it into a circle, hold it in place by holding the center and then use a needle and thread to sew it together. Then sew the button on in the center.

If you need better instructions and pictures on how to do this, I found a great tutorial at Maize Hutton. The only difference in her tutorial and how I did mine is I used my sewing machine instead of hand-stitching for the gathering. Just set your stitch length at the longest setting possible and stitch a straight line about 3/8" from the edge, leave the strings on both ends longggg... I'd say around 8 inches. Grab one string on one side and tug it gently gathering the fabric as you go.

To attach the flowers to the wreath, I simply used a safety pin through the fabric and around a twig or two on the wreath.

3. Hang the Wreath

To hang the wreath, I used a piece of fabric measuring 2x44 inches, wrapped it around wreath and tied it in a knot followed by a bow. I didn't worry about finishing any of the edges as it adds to the character of the wreath.

And there you have it! Simple, short, sweet, and with a simple change of your fabric, this wreath is easily customized for any house or season!

I'm alive!

2010-08-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

We've finished our move, and are finally getting reconnected! I am embarrassed to say yesterday when I logged into my Google Reader account I had over 900 entries to read!!!! Wow! That's definitely going to take awhile to catch up on! On a positive note, I am amazed at how much unpacking, cleaning, and playing I got done over my "unplugged" time.

A few of you have asked for some specifics on the spring wreath project... I'll try to get a tutorial/how-to on that up before next week. And then I have some rockin' new projects to share I can hardly contain myself! I scored on some sweet fabric at a consignment store while the hubster and I were looking for a new house and made some adorable stuff with it! Just need to get come pictures taken, camera reconnected, and pictures loaded. :)

I'll be back soon! :)

Princess Chair "Revamp"

2010-07-22T12:05:00.000-07:00

We don't despise princess related things in our house, but it's not exactly our favorite. We are more rough and tumble, with some girly thrown in there for fun. So when we stopped in St. Louis at my aunts house on our last cross country move my cousin Gina, being the sweetheart she is, decided she had outgrown her chair and gave it to Hallie. We were excited... Hallie loved sitting in it, in fact she loved everything that Gina had, and I was excited it was free! But it was a few years old and Gina had definitely put it to good use, so I decided to recover it.

Sadly I didn't take a picture beforehand so here's a stock look alike.

I broke out my trust friend, the seam ripper and went to work. And seam ripping I did! I ripped out all of the old seams so I could use the old pad as a pattern. So a few episodes of 24 later, I was done with the seam ripping.

I then cut out my fabric, pretty, fun and not-so-princessy thrifted floral fabric on the top, and go-to sky blue on the bottom.

I then basically made a slip cover for the old pad. Reassembled the 2 cushions. I was lazy and didn't finish the edges well, I may go back over them at some point with a zig-zag or overcasting stitch and make it a look a little nicer- or not since it's on the bottom. :)

I then took the old pieces that held the cushion onto the frame and made duplicates out of the blue fabric. Then I broke out a few more episodes of 24 and hand sewed the pieces back around the frame. A little time consuming, but it's adorable!

Upcycled Sweater Pillow and other accents of red

2010-07-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

I upcycled a white sleeveless sweater into a pillow cover, by simply sewing closed the arm holes, stuffing the pillow inside and sewing it closed. I added the 3 buttons for fun and used acrylic paint to paint over 3 ugly colored buttons I had. Since I used things I already had on hand from other projects, the project was virtually free- just a few dollars out of pocket for the pillow form from IKEA!

I found plain cream lampshades at Goodwill and spraypainted them to match our pillows and bedspread. They are the perfect amount of POP! :)

Fun New Cozies!

2010-07-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

Just a shameless plug here :) I just listed a few new fun cozies in my ETSY shop. This may provide a few diet Pepsi's and bags of peanut M&M's on our 6 day trek across the country. :)

I will be out of commission for a few weeks while we move once again. (Are you sick of hearing about us moving!? Cause I'm sure sick of hearing myself talk about moving!) I may have some sporadic posting and have scheduled a few little posts and I may jump in here and there if I get a chance- we'll see. :)

So bye for now, I'll miss ya!

Chalkboard Table Inspiration

2010-07-12T10:43:00.000-07:00

Remember my lame attempt at a super cute kid's table?! Well I think I may have found some inspiration! Check out this adorable set at Savvy Chic Home.

Don't you LOVE her color choice!!! I do! I'm ditching this set and picking up the nicer set we left in WA at the in-laws and as soon as we find a house, M&H's table is getting a seriously needed cuteness revamp!

Message Board Frame Tutorial

2010-07-11T13:09:00.000-07:00

There's a plethora of these floating around in blogland right now, but this project was so fun and easy I just had to share my version...

And because I'm trying to ignore this mess...

And trying to ignore the fact that I'm moving across the country AGAIN, for the 4th time in 2 years AND the fact that we are leaving in just over a week and still haven't found renters to take over our lease... I've decided to make it into a little tutorial a la true Stacey style.

If you are like me so many of your projects don't ever turn out how you envisioned them, this project started out as something different, but ended in a still way cute fashion! (and yes, I just said way cute!) Most of the time when crafting (especially scrapbooking) I start with no plan in mind and just roll with it, sometimes it turns out cute, and sometimes it doesn't! If anything, it may just be a self-revealing post or a great stress reliever for me, but at any rate I'll try not to make this too wordy!

Gather your supplies:

I originally started out needing a punch, paint sample cards (which you steal from your friends goodwill pile), and glue dots. For the final project I only needed the following items...

1. Sweet purple frame (you also steal from your friend's goodwill pile which she originally found at the coolest thrift store ever, Unique, which we lovingly call "little Mexico" LOVE it! Totally reminds me of Mexico)

2. Spray Paint

3. Patterned paper

That's it!

Take your sweet Unique picture frame and spray paint it, if you're like me you'll start with brown, but then decide you need to branch out and add more color to you're life so you go with your next fall-back color- light blue. :)

Then here's where you decide to change things up a bit and roll with it. Originally you wanted it to be a sample paint card piece of art, but it just wasn't working.

So scratch that idea, head to Ross, Target, Chili's, DQ, 7-11 and then stay up until 3am helping your BFF organize her new place and then resume the next day. :)

Stay with the scrapbook paper, but turn it into a message board. Cut your choice of paper to the size of the frame, mine was 8x10.

Next fill the frame in this order... glass on outside, followed by paper, and cardboard backing.

Grab your dry erase marker and write a cute little note to your hubb-a-lub right on the glass so he won't be too angry when he knows you've been crafting instead of packing :)

And enjoy it in all it's cuteness!

Linked here to these fun partays! :)

Table Runners... For Sale!!

2010-06-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

I made these table runners last year for my sisters wedding with a Michael Miller Damask print. They are cotton and measure approximately 13"x83" Since I have no need for 16 adorable table runners :) I have decided to sell them. I will be selling them individually for $10+shipping or $125+shipping for all 16. (That's a $35 savings for anyone like me who doesn't want to do the math!) I am also willing to sell them in different quanties at a discounted price. My mom just wants them out of her house! :)

If you are interested, please email me at staceymae81[@]gmail.com

Thanks!

Headband Fun

2010-06-29T14:18:00.000-07:00

Despite our best intentions, my sister Shelly and I have only been able to craft a few things while I am here visiting, our kids are fire and ice right now with there being about a 30 second time limit before someone is screaming or crying if they are in the same room. We think (and hope!) they really do like each other, they just don't want to live together! Anyway with that said, here's our attempt at crafting... these cute braided headbands are popping up all over the net so here's one of our versions.

Enjoy...

Coffee Cozy Preview

2010-06-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the new prints I scored while at Craft Warehouse on my trip home. Lovin' this combo! Now I just have a cross country move and about 200 buttons to sew on before this round of cozies is done! Wish me luck!

Me...

2010-06-10T01:07:00.000-07:00

I know this is my "crafty blog" but I just couldn't help myself. I've spent the last adjusting to the new time zone, reconnecting with old friends, and finally tending to sick kids- so needless to say there hasn't been a ton of crafting going on. On a side note... does this happen to anyone else?! You go to visit somewhere or go on vacation and end up spending a good part of it being sick!? This has happened the last couple times we've come home! Yuck!

But getting back on track... I was just looking at pictures on my MIL's computer and came across this picture. This is the first time I've seen it and despite the grainy quality, and the fact that I'm not lookin' my greatest I love this picture. It may be because I have so few of me with both of my kids, especially as infants... the hubby's not much of a picture taker and that whole first 6 months is still a blur!

This is ME, I love being a mom, I'm busier than I've ever been, but in a different sort of way. I laugh everyday and love *almost* every minute. I've still got lots of room for improvement, but I can say I am most definitely doing my best. I love these guys!

And one more for good measure :)

It's Cozy Time!

2010-06-10T00:29:00.000-07:00

Coffee Cozy time that is! I've got 100+ cozies in the making as we speak, I had to take a short blogging break for my sanity. And I'm SO excited about the new batch. Since we are home visiting our families I headed out to Craft Warehouse (LOVE this store!) with my mom. It's designer after designer after designer of cute fabrics! I spent a ridiculous amount of money and I'm already scheming about how to get back for more! One confession I have to make... I really need to branch out from the browns! I really tried to get a variety of fabrics and think I did an ok job, but I still have a huge stack of browns!

So if you haven't gone over to my ETSY shop, go check them out... if everything goes as planned (Micah/Hallie- listen up! That means you're in a really good mood and take a great nap tomorrow!) I'll be adding some more cozies soon soon soon! And since I spent a ridiculous amount of money- I think I feel a sale coming on, I need to recoup that money fast! (There I go again trying to justify the habbit!)

So enjoy some eyecandy!!

Brown Flower Throw Pillows

2010-05-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

Find my inspiration here. Which looking back I like more way more than mine! I guess that's the difference between a $7.97 spool of lace and a $1.00 spool of lace ribbon stuff! But, it works and is still better than the plain brown pillow it was before!

Photo Key Holder Tutorial

2010-05-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

I love to hang my keys now with this beauty. I wish I could say the same for the hubby! He does like to hang them sometimes, but the kitchen table is a much better target. And in his defense, he seldomly drives or uses keys, so they usually stay in his backpack. He's a champ and walks a mile to catch a shuttle for a free ride to work. But this post isn't about my hubby and it's going to be long enough as it is without all my extra thoughts!

The Photo Key Holder

Isn't it cute!? Useful and practical :)

Here's how it's done...

Supplies:

14"x22" board (I found mine in the scrap section at home depot and had them cut it to the size I wanted, it was a 3/4" piece of plywood)

4 5x5 canvas or another size of your choice (found mine at Michaels for $1 a piece! They were in the kid/dollar art section and I've seen them periodically since then. See picture 2)

4 Hooks and screws of your choice (Home Depot, Target, Walmart all have a cute variety, vintage knobs of some kind would be super adorable as well!)

1 toothy hanger thing sorry! I can't remember what the technical name is. See picture #1

4 Pictures either print in 5x7 from a store or 5x5 from your printer, just make sure it's the same size as your canvas.

Cricut cut letters/Stickers/Stencil I cut letters using my fancy smancy Cricut, but you could easily use stickers, stencil it, or if you're really brave freehand it. :)

Brown Paint To paint board

Green Paint To paint canvas

Modge Podge

Quick Grip or another heavy duty glue

Foam Brushes For Modge Podge and paints

Pencil

Ruler

Hammer

Drill/Screwdriver

Directions:

1. Prepare your wood, sand if needed, I roughly sanded mine because I wanted a rough surface. Paint the wood the color of your choice. Find your center about 3/4 up from the bottom. Mark with pencil and nail in your toothy hanger.

Picture 1

2. If you printed your picture bigger than the canvas you'll want to place your canvas on top of your picture and trace around it with a pencil. Remove the canvas and trim around your pencil line.

3. Set your pictures aside and paint your art canvases the color of your choice. But wait, you can let your kids have some fun and color them first if you want. :)

4. Break out the Modge Podge and coat the top of your canvas. Place your picture on top of the canvas, press evenly, cover picture with a thin layer of Modge Podge. This helps to make sure the picture is secure, protected, and not going anywhere! :)

Picture 2

5. Wait for them to dry :( Anyone else hate this part?! Oh well, go grab a snack, go to the bathroom, or doing something really productive like start a load of laundry. Snore!

Ok your back hooray and you can thank me later, especially if you decided to grab a diet pepsi and m&m's!

6. Ok I don't have a good picture of this part and as you'll learn I'm not very technical with measurements and such. I kind-of just eye it.

You are going to lay out all of your items on your board, spacing them evenly. If you need measurements and something more concrete: for the canvases, there ended up being 1.333" between each canvas and around the edge. Use a ruler and pencil and draw guidelines on your board. Once you've done this grab your Quick Grip Glue (or other heavy duty glue of your choice) and glue your canvases onto your board lining them up with the lines you've traced.

7. Next you're going to figure out where you want your hooks. Just use a ruler and space them evenly towards the bottom of your board. Use a pencil and mark where your screws will go. Now break out your drill or screwdriver and screw in your hooks where you have marked. Now if you're not super technical and cheap like I am, you'll just use included screws even if they poke through the back of the wood. You can saw them off later or just leave them. If you are more technical you'll just need to make sure the length of your screws is shorter than the width of your board. (ie 3/4")

8. Now decide on the phrase you'd like on your board and either use a Cricut, stickers, stencils, etc. for your phrase. I used the Cricut to cut out paper letters approximately 2 1/4" tall. Once cut out I spaced them out on the board, grabbed Modge Podge and glued each letter to the board. I then coated the entire board in Modge Podge, working around the hooks and canvases, but gluing over the letters. Vinyl would have been easier to use, but I wanted the patterned paper for added cuteness!

8. Now just wait for everything to dry and hang and admire your work!

(Oh how I miss painted walls!)

And please let me know if anything is unclear or you have any questions! The kids are now awake and to be completely honest I haven't proofread yet! :)

Toddler Backpacks

2010-05-28T05:03:00.000-07:00

I'm heading out of town soon and flying across the country by myself for the first time with both kids. I won't lie, I'm pretty nervous and freaking out a little! The first thing I did was brainstorm on how to lighten my load (I'm a habitual overpacker!!!) So of course, one of the first things that made it on to the must-do's was have them carry their own stuff.

As cute and easy as it would have been I just couldn't bring myself to go buy one from the store. Not when the potential for little matching backpacks was there! So really what could be more perfect than 2 of Made By Rae's Toddler Backpacks!? Have you seen her spring top competition? Go check it out, you won't be disappointed! http://www.made-by-rae.com/ Go now you won't be disappointed. :)

But first...

I smiled all day long yesterday. I seriously couldn't wipe the smile off my face. Well really I'm still smiling! And the hubby gave me the biggest compliment EVER! Normally when I show him something he says something like, "yea sweety that's neat" spoken of course in grunts. His response this time was, "wow those are pretty cool, they will be really useful." USEFUL! That's the key word, I just need to explain the usefulness of any item I want him to be excited about. That and food, almost 8 years of marriage later and almost 14 of dating him, I've finally figured that usefulness and food are his motivators! But this is my crafty blog so you don't really care about that!

I switched things up a little from her pattern and added a front pocket to the bag. Added storage and I think it adds to the pack. I also wanted them to be pretty sturdy so I used home-decor canvas, med weight interfacing AND used a think vinyl to stabilize the bottom. It was hard on the good ol' machine, I broke 2 size 14 needles and of course found my size 16 after I had finished, but hopefully it was worth it for the added stability and durability of the pack.

Simply put... These backpacks rock!!!!

Chalkboard Table Needs Your Help!

2010-05-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

Help! If anyone out there actually still (or ever for that matter!) reads this blog I attempted to paint the kiddos table while the hubby was out of town a couple weeks ago and I'm not loving it... at all.

I do love the chalkboard paint on the top... it's been loads of fun, but I just can't seem to envision a color that will look good with it! There are so many cute ideas out there in blogland, that I may just end up getting rid of the "chalkboard top" and adding some fun fabric on top. Who knows!? The table lives in our living room/dining room so I don't want it to be anything too crazy, but if you ask me as it is right now- it's SO boring!! So if you're out there... Please Help!

(and ha ha I just noticed they are both wearing Christmas pajamas! Don't judge me! I guess you could just say that's how we do things around here!)

Link Party at somewhat simple: "The Happy Chair"

2010-05-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Just found her splendid blog today! So excited she's got some great stuff!

Mr. Turtle... The Coolest Turtle Bean Bag EVER!!

2010-05-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

I've been planning a giant bean bag since before Micah and Hallie were born, and soon after I decided it would be a turtle. We had one until I was well into my teens, and quite possibly out of the house and we loved it! So for the last few years I have saved all of my scrap fabric... we're talking little 1/4" strips scraps and used them to stuff this sweet little fella!

So without further ado... meet Mr. Turtle the Bean Bag

He'll be loved for years to come...

And quite honestly, abused for years to come!

(I'm so sorry Mr. Turtle but they really do like you... I promise!)

Cardboard Box Dollhouse

2010-05-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine, 2 snowed in kids, 1 bored mama (with no TV or computer!), 2 cardboard boxes, and a little creativity? An over-the-top cardboard box doll house! See for yourself...

This little beauty comes complete with a spraypainted exterior, custom wall paper, a swimming pool, and a set of beautiful french doors leading to a private deck. :) What can I say?! I was really bored!

Homemade Headboard Saga

2010-05-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

Do your best to look past these 2 munchkins and what do you see?! Besides 4 other unfinished projects? (Yes I counted them... nightstands need to painted, lampshades need to be replaced with something bigger, curtains need to be hung instead of towels (seriously!), and decorative pillows need to be made and/or bought... and that's just 1 picture in 1 room... my life is full of projects in the waiting right now!)

Well if you can look past all of that you will see a beautiful handmade headboard! Thanks to Lis and her persuasion, enthusiasum, and persistance; my hubbies mad skills with a rip saw, desire for me to actually finish a project, and ~~willingness to help~~ desire to get our house back in order; and last but not least :) my crazy ideas, blogging addiction, and inadequate/incorrect plans... both households have rockin' headboards! (How's that for a run-on!?)

Lis and I drew out plans Friday night for these beauties, went to Home Depot at 9:00 at night to "price them out" or so I thought, and much to my hubbies dismay, came back with the materials to build them.

Add a snow storm into the mix and you get a weekend full of building a headboard in your living room, including, but most definitely not limited to... drilling, sanding, and painting! Hey at least we Tyson saved the sawing for outside on our front porch, I'm sure our neighbors got a kick out of that one.

We're absolutely giddy about them!

Clean Up

2010-05-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

In order to organize and streamline, I'm moving all of my craft posts from the good ol' family blog over here. I'll leave them on the family blog as well, but just want to have all crafty related stuff in one place! So don't mind us there may be lots of repeat posts over the next little while, but my be a nice refresher! :)

"The Happy Chair"

2010-04-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

With 2 two year-olds, the "Happy Chair" (i.e. time out chair) is a popular place at our house. I needed to have something help me smile since we visit it often throughout the day!

So I took a plain and boring wood stool from AC Moore...

and gave it some smile potential with some spray paint, fun papers, and my trusty new Cricut machine. :)

I love the end result! It really does brighten a not so enjoyable time!

Spring Wreath

2010-04-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Wow! Ever since I saw this wreath from Dana at Made and this one from All Things Thrifty, I've been obsessed with wanting a wreath. Well I so excited when we moved to our place and the ~~dirt mound~~ yard was covered with acorns, I had my little Halster help me gather them and set off gluing my gathered acorns for hours.

Either my hot glue gun sucks, or I suck at hot gluing because there were pesky strings EVERYWHERE! I thought spray painting it pink might help hide the strings, nope I was wrong. It looked like pepto-bismol. It was awful!

Seriously. I'm not exaggerating.

So I gave up and threw it in the trash where it belonged.

Now I'm glad I did, because here's what I came up with. I'm not overly excited about the fabric choice for the flower trio, but I wanted to use what I had- so it works. And it still brings a smile to my face. :) And best part, it was completed during naps with plenty of time to spare... yea for having time to eat! Enjoy.

Cupcake Dessert Platter

2010-04-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine a plain and boring $1.00 candlestick from Goodwill, 2 I-have-to-have-them-right now-they're-super-cute plates from TJMaxx, and a little clear Gorilla Glue?!

You get an adorable cupcake, dessert, and anything else you want it to be platter.

Add these incredibly easy last minute Easter treats and it's too cute too handle! :) Love it all!

For the Bird's Nest Clusters I found the idea here at Sew Much Ado with the link to the recipe here found on The Trendy Treehouse. Thanks gals!

Spring Color Inspiration

2010-04-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

I'm ankle deep in the middle of finally potty training Hallie, so we're hanging low at home for the next few days, some post-Easter plastic egg fun broke out this am and all I could think about was how I wanted some fabric with these colors or to make something with these colors!

Aren't they gorgeous!?

Even after Captain Destructor got hold of the snake they're still gorgeous!

(i.e. Hallie who was given this nickname during nursery at church because she would go around destroying what everyone else was playing with... she's a feisty one that's for sure!)

A work in progress...

2010-03-15T21:47:00.000-07:00

5544 Inches+ later I've finally got all of my delicious blue and brown fabrics sewn together. Why did I ever think it was a good idea to take on a quilt?! Yea me, the girl who has a hard time finishing a scrapbooking page?! Yea, I'm still trying to figure that one out... although it may have something to do with the delicious blue and brown fabric that ~~called~~ screamed my name the day after Thanksgiving for a terribly hard-to-resist price!

Next step involves one of my least favorite activities, with my super ugly, in desperate need of being recovered ironing board. Followed by some more cutting, as if cutting 144 strips wasn't enough, there's more cutting, and even more sewing. All I have to say is that the final project better be spectacular or I will have wasted a large portion of my life! :)

Check out my inspiration here and her blog here. She's an amazingly talented gal!

Photo Storage Tutorial

2010-03-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me, you have a ton of pictures on your computer...

Well our poor little computer couldn't handle the 1000's of pictures we had on it, so I needed to get them off but wasn't quite sure how to store them. So I thought and thought and thought some more, which took me back to my Rec Therapy days at Tamarack. The school teacher there used this method for storing pictures of the kids. It's simple, but brilliant and cheap...

1st step: Weed through your pictures, deleting any you don't want or need

2nd step: Burn a cd of the photos, sometimes I did 1 month per cd, sometimes more

3rd step: Using your photo program of choice open the cd. I used both Google Picaso (free program... thanks Alisa!) and Adobe Photoshop (not so free, but a great Christmas present... thanks mom!) Photoshop was the best, the thumbnails were smaller and used less paper, Picaso thumbnails were much bigger, needing more paper. Most programs have a choice when printing to print thumbnails or a 'contact sheet.' Select this option and print away!

4th step: Grab a 3 ring binder and some page protectors, slide your contact sheets into the page protectors, along with your cd and you've got a terrific simple, but brilliant storage method for your photos!

Penguin Cupcakes

2009-10-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

While home visiting the last couple weeks my mom, sister, and I whipped up these cuties for my niece's 1st birthday. While they were far from perfect, with the supplies we had on hand and the short amount of time we had to do them we all thought they turned out super cute!

And really Madison could have cared less about how they looked she devoured those puppies!

And check out these adorable blue beauties, red hair and blue eyes... with an attitude to match this girl is gonna be trouble... watch out mom and dad :)

Our inspiration came from here, but check out these cuties here, or this huge cupcake display here, or this collection here, or these way-too-perfect cupcakes here. And if these aren't enough for you just use google image search for penguin cupcakes and you'll find cupcakes that'll make your jaw drop!

{Save the Date}

2009-09-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

My lil' sis gets married this weekend... yay! Needless to say, I've got last minute wedding projects coming out my ears! So to take a little break from the long list of projects that still need to be done, I'll blog about the Save the Dates I made 6 months ago!

Aren't they fun and so cute?!

She found the idea somewhere, have no idea where (sorry can't give credit where credit is due! I've searched but can't haven't had any luck finding her source.)

Coffee Drink Cup Cozy Sleeve

2009-09-03T09:10:00.000-07:00

What's with the random use of adjectives in the title you ask? Well as a tribute to my good friend, greatly missed roomy, and brother-in-law Shawn, I think that is the phrase he might use to describe this project! Well any way you put it, it's an adorable way to sip that yummy drink you love so much. This cup cozy replaces those cardboard sleeves the energetic Starbucks employees throw on your drink to protect your little fingers from the scorching hot cup. It also works great for keeping your fingers warms while sipping a nice cold refreshing drink.

Those who ordered the Anna bag received one of these cuties for FREE! :) I've still got one bag left for anyone who doesn't want to miss out on the freebie. But if the Anna Bag just isn't in your budget right now, you can order a cute Coffee Cozy, or 2 or 3, or however many you like. They are for sale individually for $5.99 or 2 for $10.

You can find them in my ETSY shop by clicking here.

Simplicity Hobo Style

2009-09-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Simply put... my life calls for simplicity right now.

So enough of my empty promises, here it is...

The super fun, can't wait to get it onto my shoulder, flower hobo purse! I think we'll call her the 'Anna bag' for now... why Anna you ask? Umm... keeping with the simple, it's the first name that came to mind! You've got a better one? Great! Let me hear it! :) Until then, we'll stick with 'Anna bag.' Complete with her cute little knot in the strap and her cute little flower on the side... doesn't she just make you want to smile! :)
You may remember this bag from here. Well I used mine day in and day out, and figured out what worked and what didn't work, made a few adjustments and ta-da...

Here's your chance to get yours now, for a super low price of $26.00! For the first 3 bags I sell, there will be a fun little extra included in your bag. Just click on the "email me" link to your left and let me know you want one.

And if the 'Anna Bag' just isn't quite your style or prefer something a little bigger... i.e. diaper bag style. Just let me know your preferences and I'll whip one up for you :)

Mr. Orange, meet your new best friends...

2009-09-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Mr. Orange, meet Mr. Green and Mr. Brown... your 2 new best friends.

Seriously, it only gets cuter (of course only until the bright pink cast makes its appearance, but we'll just pretend we don't see it because we are so distracted by the absolute-over-the-top-adorable brown boots... or I should say boot. :) I've got enough supplies left to make 1 more of these puppies for $16.00... email me (link to your left) with your request and size.

Throw pillows

2009-06-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

New couch = New throw pillows right? I just can't have my first brand new couch without showing it some throw pillow love! And buying from a store just wouldn't be enough when these great comfy pillows from IKEA are just waiting to be covered.

So I geared up at Joann's with a neutral brown fabric I love and well, we're about to take off, I just finished the hobo bag I've been working on... only a week late and yet to be added to the store, but I've got the crafty itch so I'm gonna stick with it 'til the pillows are done. The first 2 will be easy, cut, iron, sew, and stuff.

The second 2, I can't wait to do, but will be more labor intensive. This is what I was thinking...

Ecru Ashley Throw Pillow

Are you totally in love? Cause I am!

Mr. Oranges New Best Friends = Toddler Skirt

2009-05-05T19:21:00.000-07:00