Something Wonderful

Felt Advent Wreath

2011-12-14T06:24:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to post this. I made the boys a felt advent wreath to use during the week. They love getting to "light" the candles!

Another Turkey Craft

2011-11-22T06:40:00.001-08:00

Simon's tissue paper turkey. One of my favorites. He needed LOTS of help.

Today's Fall Craft

2011-11-17T08:48:00.001-08:00

A fall tree made from different kinds of colored noodles.

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A Thanksgiving Craft

2011-11-14T07:21:00.001-08:00

Simon's hanprint turkeys!

The Dynamic Duo

2011-11-11T09:24:00.000-08:00

Isaac decided long ago that he wanted to be Batman for Halloween and that Simon would be Robin. Then hubby decided that he wanted classic blue and gray Batman as opposed to all black Batman. My wheels started turning. I love making their Halloween costumes but these might be too lofty. Then hubby found these costumes online. They were too expensive so I used them as a pattern to look at. Here's how they turned out.

Here's the internet image....
and here's what I made. The mask moved as we tried to take pictures.

Here's Robin...
and my little Robin.
I'm really happy with out they turned out. It was a labor of love!

Isaac also decided what he wanted mami and daddy to be. Lucky for him, we already had the costumes made from years ago! We're HUGE fans!
Justice League forever!!!

A Fall Craft

2011-11-11T07:40:00.001-08:00

Isaac's family tree.

"Fall"ing Back

2011-10-25T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back. No excuses or reasons. But I'm gonna recommit myself not only to crafting but to blogging about my crafting. However, I wouldn't expect a tutorial any time soon. Just gonna be sharing what I've been working on.

Take a walk around my Autumn house with me.....

My mantel with fabric pumpkins
My square leaf wreath for the back door, made last year
Leaf candles, also previously made
A bowl full of mums leftover from my wreath
A leaf banner for the mantel
These are on the piano. If you look closely, I etched them with our monogram.
Newly made fall valances
Mum flower ball and plaque
My fall front step with monogrammed pumpkin.
My revamped wreath
And my two special pumpkins! These two have been keeping me quite busy (and not blogging :)
Happy Fall!

5-Minute T-Shirt Skirt

2011-05-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Still have t-shirts left over from college and nothing to do with them? Here's a quick and easy skirt idea! All you need is:

- A t-shirt (bigger sizes are best)
- scissors
- ribbon or shoe lace
- safety pin

Here we go! First lay your t-shirt flat.
Cut straight across just under the sleeve line. Depending on the size of the design on the back, you may or may not have it showing when your skirt is done.
Next, cut a tiny slit through ONE SIDE of the bottom hem.
Now take a safety pin and attach to the end of your shoe lace or ribbon. Then, start feeding it through the hem.
Once you've gone around, this is what it will look like. This is what will tighten it to your waist. Just tighten and tie a bow.
And TA-DA! You're done.
Seriously so easy. It might take more than 5 minutes if you've got a toddler and infant distracting you :)

This skirt is super comfy. Now, mind you, it's not a church skirt or a work skirt. This is more of an around the house, day at the pool/beach, play date at the park type skirt.

Another hint, Michael's sometimes has their plain t-shirts on mega sale and they come in a lot of great colors. Like hot pink! Awesome!

Feeling Honored

2011-05-09T11:23:00.001-07:00

These are the pictures my sweet husband took and framed for me for Mother's Day.

He has such a creative eye. I love these boys! Hope all you moms felt honored too!

Happy Easter!!

2011-04-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

"Do not be afraid. Jesus is not here. He is risen! Just as He said."

Hope you had a fun day celebrating our risen Lord! Halleluia!

Resurrection Eggs

2011-03-31T11:56:00.001-07:00

These eggs were super easy to make. I used Sarah's eggs over at CREATE to help me get started. I made a little book as well for a quick reference to the Bible verses.

Here we go:

Egg Number 1

Message: Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.

Passage: Matthew 21:1-11.
Item: A small plastic leaf or a piece of a palm branch.

Egg Number 2

Message: Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus' feet.
Passage: John 12:2-8.
Item: Small perfume sample, a piece of cloth or a piece of cotton with perfume on it.

Egg Number 3

Message: Jesus ate the Last Supper with His disciples.
Passage: Matthew 26:17-19.
Item: A small piece of cracker to represent the Passover bread.

Egg Number 4

Message: Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Passage: Matthew 27:3.
Item: A dime or plastic “silver” money.

Egg Number 5

Message: Jesus carried His cross.
Passage: John 19:17.
Item: A Popsicle stick that is cut and glued in the form of a cross or a small plastic cross from a necklace.
Egg Number 6
Message: Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head.
Passage: John 19:2.
Item: A small thorny branch or a single large thorn.

Egg Number 7

Message: Jesus was nailed to a cross and pierced in His side.
Passage: John 19:18,37 and John 20:25-29.
Item: A nail
Egg Number 8

Message: Soldiers parted Jesus' garments and cast lots for His coat.
Passage: John 19:23.
Item: Miniature dice.

Egg Number 9

Message: They gave Jesus vinegar mixed with gall on a sponge to drink.
Passage: Matthew 27:34.
Item: A small piece of sponge.

Egg Number 10

Message: Jesus was wrapped in linen for burial.
Passage: John 19:40.
Item: a long strip of white fabric
Egg Number 11

Message: The stone covering Jesus' tomb was rolled away.
Passage: John 20:1.
Item: A small rock.

Egg Number 12

Message: The tomb is empty. He has risen!
Passage: Luke 24:6.
Item: None.
Isaac has seriously enjoyed these eggs so much. He requests them almost every day. At first, he was genuinely surprised when the last egg was empty. But now, when he opens it, he says, "Jesus is not here, He is risen!" And when he opens the egg with the cross, he says, "Jesus died on the cross. Sweet boy.

Hope you have fun making these and that you also will be blessed as you bring the gospel to your kids.

Today's Easter Activity

2011-03-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

Watercolor a simple Easter coloring sheet.

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Easter Egg Wreath Part 3

2011-03-18T10:35:00.001-07:00

glue eggs on the circle. And that's it! You're done!

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Easter Egg Wreath Part 2

2011-03-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

posterboard circle and finger paint cut into egg shapes.

Easter Egg Wreath Part 1

2011-03-18T10:27:00.001-07:00

Finger paint on construction paper. After it's dried tomorrow, we'll be cutting it.

Easter is Here!

2011-03-17T18:31:00.001-07:00

Make sure to click on the "Easter" label to the left to check out some of my past Easter projects.

Also, I will be posting semi-daily on activities and crafts that I'm doing with my little guy for this season. Hope you enjoy!

Real Life Toy Story

2011-03-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

I'm sure a lot of you moms are in the same boat as me concerning Toy Story. It's everywhere and the kids are just crazy about Woody, Jessie and Buzz.

However, these dolls are so super expensive. So I came up with my own alternative. Not as high class as the real dolls, but my little toddler doesn't know the difference and has absolutely loved them.
He has taken his new little friends EVERYWHERE, to bed, to dinner, to the car, and into his little cardboard house. And when his little brother is crying, he'll even share them to to make him feel better. sweet.
The process is simple and I even got to try out a new technique. Here's how:

1. Cut 8 1/2 x 14 in pieces of both simple white fabric and freezer paper. Since I made 3 dolls, I cut 3.

2. Iron the fabric onto the freezer paper. Take your time with this step. Make sure the fabric is fully bonded to the paper without wrinkles or air spots. Especially check the ends; you don't want them to unstick as the piece goes through the printer.

3. I did a Google image search for the pictures. Then I copy & pasted them onto a word document to make them as big I wanted. Note: make sure you specify Toy Story Woody. geez. Then one by one, feed the fabric through the printer. The start can be tricky but if the end easily goes through the printer, then you're home safe. The Buzz messed up a little but I quickly canceled the print so I could salvage the fabric. I ironed the end again it worked on the second try. Here are all three:
4. Cut equal sized pieces of the plain white fabric for the back and pin together. Cut the images out. It's important to have plain fabric pinned so that the front and back are identically cut for sewing.

5. With right sides together, sew the front and back together, leaving an opening for stuffing.
6. Turn right side out and begin stuffing. Hand sew the opening closed.

And that's it, you're finished! I got this done in one nap time. The one negative of this project is that I used normal ink. So there will be no washing of these dolls because the ink will wash off. I'm not too concerned about it though. And I'm not totally sure but I think there is fabric printer ink out there somewhere.

Happy playtime Isaac!

Today's Easter craft.

2011-03-15T14:43:00.001-07:00

Today's Easter craft.

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Pine Cone Bird Feeder

2011-03-14T07:50:00.001-07:00

I realize a lot of you probably did this in elementary school. Well I didn't and was very excited to do it with my little guy. So here we go:

First, go on a pine cone hunt
Next, take some peanut butter and spread it all over the pine cone. Have some wet paper towels ready for the mess.
Then, roll the pine cone in some bird seed, or if you're like Isaac, just grab a handful and dump it on.
Lastly, tie a string around the cone and tie it to a tree.
And finally, stare out the door on a rainy over cast day and wait for the birds to arrive.
Awesome. What fun. Happy Spring!

Written on the Wall

2011-03-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

I've wanted something in vinyl over our dining room table for a long time. I was just never willing to dish out the big bucks for it. Then the bug bit me and this is what I came up with. I love it. I used fabric that was left over from the valances I made for our living room. To paste it on the wall, I used the cornstarch wall glue technique that I used for Simon's Monkeys.
The whole project from beginning to end took about 1 1/2 hours to complete. The cutting was the hardest, as usual. Plus it was a Saturday so when I ran over nap time a little, sweet hubby was there to help. Awesome!

Homemade Foam Soap

2011-02-24T08:39:00.000-08:00

Do you like foam soap? I know I do. That's why this bottle is empty. Well, instead of just oging out and buiying another big refill bottle, I wanted to try something different and homemade, because everything is always better homemade. OK, well, maybe not everything.

For Christmas I received a gift card to Bath & Body Works from my mom and came home with this, ( I won't say how many)
Here's what I did:

Put about 3-4 tbsp. soap into the soap dispenser. I'm and eye-baller so I didn't actually measure it out. Next, fill the rest of the bottle with really warm water. Make sure the flow is slow so it doesn't bubble over. Swirl (don't shake) the bottle until it's all mixed.
And that's it. Really that's it. See how nicely it foams!
It's not as fluffy foam as a brand new bottle but it still washes my hands nicely. Another plus: I only used about 1/4 of the soap bottle. So that means, I'll get 4-5 foam soap bottles full from the one regular soap bottle. love it.

Enjoy!

Bathtub Paints

2011-02-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how expensive these are? Goodness. So I started researching a homemade alternative and here's what I came up with. Cutie little boy not included.Here's what you need:

- clear baby bath gel (I got mine at the Dollar Tree)
- corn starch
- food coloring
- small plastic containers

Here's how:

1. For each 1/4 cup of soap, add 1 tbsp. of cornstarch. So in a measuring cup, if you have 1 cup of soap, add 4 tbsp. cornstarch. easy.

2. After it's mixed well, divide it into small containers. You need as many containers as different colors that you want.

3. Add food coloring to each of the containers and mix well!

And there you have it. Time to start painting!

Home Made Simple

2011-02-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

I came across this website a few months ago and I really love. It's called

Home Made Simple

It's really great. I especially love their crafts section. They have crafts for all kinds of things and holidays.

Check out their latest Valentine's Day craft. A paint chip wreath. I may have to run to Home Depot and try this one out!

They also have great resources on home organization, recipes, and more.

If you've never heard of it, please visit and enjoy!

Peanut Butter Doggie Treats

2011-02-01T07:13:00.001-08:00

Meet MissyGirl. Before our boys were born, she was the only one. And we loved her. We still love her, she just unfortunately gets neglected a lot of the time now. sad.

When my mom was here for Simon's birth, she gave Missy lots of attention. She also bought everything I needed to make Missy some yummy and healthy doggie treats. Note: I'm not overly concerned about Missy's caloric intake because, well, she's a dog. But these are so easy and cheap. Here's the easy recipe (I'm not sure what book my mom got it from): And here's my little helper:
First you pour the dry ingredients
And you mix it with wet ingredientsThen you knead...
... and roll it out. My mom found this doggie bone cookie cutter at AC Moore for about $.79!
Place them on a cookie sheet and into the oven they go! My sweet little guy. He was very helpful. I did need to take over alot though, and towards the end, he lost interest and I had to finish up. But that's okay. He loves to "hep (help) Mami"! This recipe made A TON of treats. They didn't last too long though because kept sneaking some to Missy. He even tried to eat one and spit it right out! yuck!

Mystery Bookshelf

2011-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

What is this thing anyway?!?!?Well, I don't know, but I got it at the ReStore for $1! After cutting it and painting it, I turned it into this:
A little bookshelf for a little man. Isaac just loves taking books to bed with him but they end up getting lost in the covers. So, now he has a little bookshelf.

I do have to confess however. I did not think through the width of the shelf and unfortunately, the books have a hard time staying upright. There isn't enough width for them to lean back, so they fall over. Boo. But, I made a quick (and tacky) fix until we can get something a little wider.

But overall, I love the idea, Isaac loves it and only $1!!

Touch & Feel Book

2011-01-11T09:41:00.001-08:00

This little book was FREE! Meaning I didn't have to buy anything new for it. AND, it only took me about an hour from start to finish. Here are all the materials I used.
I used paper to cover up the Ritz cracker side of the box using mod podge. I actually messed up by putting the materials on the red side. oops. but it really made no difference. Here are the finished pages.
I used fleece, foil, sequins, yarn, clear plastic canvas (that's what the packet said), cotton balls, sandpaper, and pipe cleaners. Everything was glued on using tacky glue. Super easy.
To finish it off, I connected them all with a key ring.
This little book is somewhere in between my two boys. If Isaac is left alone with it, he'll pick it all apart. If Simon's left alone with it, it'll go straight to the mouth. But, I'm sure there will be this perfect window one day when they'll both be able to play with it functionally.......someday.....

Paper Monkey Mobile

2011-01-07T11:31:00.000-08:00

I started this project months and months ago and then just laid it aside for other projects. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about.

Well, two of my resolutions are to clear my house of clutter and to finish projects that I start in a timely manner. Well this little project has been sitting in a basket for a while and was always in the way. So instead of just shifting clutter I decided to just suck it in and finish it. and I'm so glad I did. Here's my paper monkey mobile!!
It hangs in front of the window over the changing table and I love it. I'm not crazy about the monkey since it looks more like an ape, but it's the only shape the stencil store had and I refused to hand cut that many little monkeys.
And I think this little guy likes it too!

I'm Really Back This Time

2011-01-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while, and I realize I've most likely lost all my readers, so I'm just starting from scratch. Hope everyone had a really amazing Christmas! Here are a few pics of just one of my Christmas projects: Matching bow ties for my boys, and a matching rosette for me. I'm so thankful for my family. I've been doing a lot of projects just haven't found the motivation to blog about it. But now, I resolve to be committed to this blog. I hope some of you are still with me!

30 Minute Mini-Notebook

2010-11-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

The motivation for this project came from an upcoming parenting conference. I was really looking forward to it. I wanted to mini-notebook to take notes in that would be set apart from all my other journals. I knew that the info I would receive I would be coming back to over and over again through the years and didn't want to lose it. So I got to work and it really took me about 30 minutes.

So here we go:

I grabbed 3 sheets of plain computer paper and cut it in half. The number of sheets and type of paper is very flexible here.
Then, I found some nice card stock scrapbook paper and cut it to the same measurement of my white paper. Fold both of those in half.
Next, poke your holes. I used one of those tiny screwdrivers and it worked great for me. They do have a tool out there that is specifically for this purpose. This may work better if you decide to have more paper. Oh yeah, use some paper clips to make sure your paper stays aligned as you poke through. I made three little holes.
I decided to use some thin twine that I've had in my craft box for years to string my notrebook together. Now stick with me as I describe the threading process. Take the end and thread it through the outer hole from the outside of the book in. Do the same with the other end. Make sure after you thread them through that they are the same length. Then take the two ends and thread them both through the middle hole (one at a time may be easier). I hope this picture helps.
Then tie a cute little bow and double knot it really tightly
And you're done! So easy and quick.

Sunday Hymn Sing

2010-11-13T14:15:00.001-08:00

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love and power.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
God’s free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Lost and ruined by the fall;
If you tarry till you’re better,
You will never come at all.

I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in His arms;
In the arms of my dear Savior,
O there are ten thousand charms.

My Fall Tablescape

2010-11-12T05:02:00.001-08:00

Here's the table that I decorated. I decided on a fall table. Here's a place setting. I found these great plates at Target and made a little rosette pin as gifts for the ladies.
For the centerpiece, I used the wreath off my door that I made. On a cake stand (under the tablecloth) I placed these pillar candles. I glued those leaves on using tacky glue.And my favorite part, using old glass jars as candle holders. I used a variety of apple sauce jars, spaghetti sauce jars , jelly jars, and others and cleaned them out. I took some fake leaves and taped them to the jars and wrapped a piece of twine around it. After the candles were lit, they looked really cute.
Here's a tip that I just learned. Use different Tupperware under your table cloth to give the table differing heights. LOVE IT!

Holiday Table Decor!

2010-11-11T11:28:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year, as I'm sure all of you do. Our churches annual ladies event, Holidays Fit for the King, was amazing once again. My favorite part is always the table decorations. They are done by volunteers. It's amazing to see what these women come up with. Here are a few that highlight some new ideas:

How about using a cupcake stand with fruit? I know, amazing! She had apples with green leaves here, and oranges with fall leaves at another table.
This table uses cute scrapbook paper as place mats. Those coasters are also scrapbook paper glues to some foam.
And then there are the non-traditional holiday tables. Check out stunning table, very classy.
How about Turquoise as a new Christmas color. This table was decorated by Sarah over at Create Studio.
I thought this pink themed table was also great.
Here's a slide show of the other tables.

Stay tuned for pictures of the table I decorated!

I'm Back in Time for Fall!

2010-10-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, I've been gone a pretty long time. And I'm sure most of you are gone as well. But I hope not. Being a mom of two is tricky. I still haven't figured out how to go grocery shopping with two so if any of you have any tips, I'll gladly take them. Here are some pictures of my little mohawk, as I like to call him. And yes, that's a natural mohawk; no styling required!!

Also with two, crafting time is down to a minimum. But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing it. It just means it takes three times as long to finish a project.

I'm so glad fall is here, even though the weather isn't cooperating. Here's a wreath I made for the back door. I loved the idea of a square wreath and I loved the way this turned out. I didn't take step by pictures but it's really easy to make. I got most of the materials at the Dollar Tree. Take a foam board and cut it into a square with rounded edges. Also cut the square out in the middle. I painted the outer edges brown since they would be showing. Then, take some fake leaves and start hot gluing them around the wreath. There's no system here. Just make it look full and luscious. I used 1 and 1/2 bags of leaves, each having 150 leaves. So easy!

Next project: Fall Leaf Banner. I actually got this idea over at Make It and Love It.
This project was also really easy to make. And had very minimal sewing involved.

This next one is one I did with little Isaac.

Every time we go outside, the proclamation is LEAVES!!! He's my little collector. I swear it takes forever just to get in the car. Here's how. Collect leaves different shapes and colors. One one piece of was paper, spread out glue. You gave have your little one help squeeze the glue out. Then have him put leaves on the glue and "pat pat leaves". After you've put your leaves, squeeze on more glue and put another piece of wax paper on that and "pat pat glue". Make sure you (parents) really smooth it out to make the to pieces of wax paper stick together. After it dried, I cut it out for nicer looking edges. It looks really great when the sun passes through the window.

I've got one more project but haven't taken picture yet.

Thanks for sticking with me. I hope to get rolling on my blog again. Check out my other Fall projects:

Fall Ribbon Wreath

Fall Plaque

Fall Window Treatments

Fall Candles

He's Here!

2010-09-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

Meet Simon! He made his entrance into the world on September 10 at 10:48 pm. We can't stop singing God's praises for this little guy. The whole experience was amazing and completely different than my first birth. Here he is fresh out of the oven and a very happy mommy.
Isaac loves him already. And check out the matching shirts I made for my boys.
And our first family portrait.We are so overjoyed at God's goodness to us.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits-
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Thanks for praising God with us!

A Quick Update

2010-09-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

When I posted on August 25th, I never thought I'd be where I am right now. Thanks everyone for being patient with my lack of posts.

Here's a quick update.

I'm 5 days past my due date and still no baby. I've gone into labor twice only to have it die down after about 8 hrs. each time. This morning I was sure it was time but got sent home from the hospital.

It's hard to believe that I've been in labor for 2 days now. Feeling really tired and my body is sore from all the work it's doing.

It's also been a faith journey. I'm trusting God's perfect timing and His perfect plan though it's been hard at times. Mostly I'm trusting that He'll help me to physically endure and that He'll get my body doing what it's supposed to to get this baby out.

I hope I have some great news soon.

Thanks for sticking with me.

A Work in Progress

2010-08-25T10:32:00.001-07:00

My biggest project in the making right now is this baby boy. Here I am at 38 Weeks (I'm 39 today). So, until this project gets finished, I won't be doing much crafting or posting.

I hope you all will stick with me for the few weeks I'll be out of commission. If even just to see pics of our sweet boy #2.

And please join me in praying that he will come quickly! Thanks!

Flower Rosette Corsage

2010-08-19T12:41:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, hubby wanted to take my "nice" belly pictures. This is me at 36 weeks (I'm 38 now!)Well, I wanted some casual pictures, but also some nice ones. This black dress is about the nicest preggy dress I have but I wanted to spruce it up some how. So I decided to make this red rosette corsage. I used the same tutorial that I used when I made them with Sarah. Except this time, I made 6 of them, all red. They really are so easy to make.

Then I just strategically placed them on the dress. It looked great. And that red just pops against the green ivy in the back. Here's a close-up. We are very close now. Any wisdom on the transition from 1 to 2???

Monkey Mobile

2010-08-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Continuing on the monkey theme in our nursery, I needed to revamp our mobile to match the theme. This was a little hard because, as you can see, the mobile was quite cute. I just loved the cutie little farm animals, but you just can't make farm animals and monkeys go together. So here's the make-over: I almost didn't tackle this project becuase it seemed way to daunting to cut and sew little monkeys. But a trip to Target and the $1 section reinvigorated me. Here's what I found:

One monkey paci holder:
And two pairs of monkey baby booties.
Total cost $3!!

Step one, remove monkey heads from the booties: SNIP SNIP
As you can see, the back is not too pretty. So I took some brown fabric and hand sewed in around the opening. Very easy but also time consuming. Here's a close-up.
I did the same thing with the Paci holder.

Next, I attatched them to the mobile. Please forgive me for not taking pictures during this time.

First I cut the farm animals off at the top that connects with the mobile. I really had to take a deep breath so as not to feel deep feeling of regret.

Next, I hot glued a thin piece of green ribbon, one end to the middle of the monkey head, and the other to the mobile
And that's it. I got it done in one nap time! I hope baby boy likes it. Only about 19 days to go!

Quilted Duvet and Pillowcase Pattern

2010-08-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

Remember my Quilted Duvet? And the matching Pillowcases?Well, I thought it would be a good idea to post pictures of the patterns I made for each of these projects, in case anyone is interested in making their own someday.

Here is the pattern for the pillowcases:

And the pattern for the duvet:
Some notes about this pattern:

The striped or dotted sections represent the patterned fabric (in my case, the jungle fabric)
The white sections are actually white fabric.
The measurements on the pattern are exact. I added 1/2" to each number (1/4" seam allowance for each side) before cutting.

One tip that made is easier for me was to cut out all my the panels on newspaper first. Then i could just pin the right size newspaper to each color fabric I needed. I saved a lot of time this way rather than measuring out each different fabric.

I hope this is all helpful.

Tea Cup Bird Feeder

2010-08-02T13:55:00.001-07:00

I saw this idea at the flea market and couldn't wait to try it out myself. Can you believe they were charging $10 each for these? Wow! First, collect your supplies. I got the poles at the neighborhood Habitat for Humanity ReStore. They were $1 each. WooHoo! I tried to find some that were square on one end and pointy on the other end and also were varying heights. By the way, these are stair railings, or spokes, or whatever you call them:)

Next, the tea cups. Where can you get all different and super cheap tea cups and saucers? Well Goodwill of course! I didn't pay more than $1 for any of these. My Goodwill didn't have a super great selection but hauling around a 2 year old to different stores just wasn't "my cup of tea"!

For the adhesive, I picked up a tube of caulking while I was at the ReStore. This, too, was only $1. First, I glued the cup to the saucer using the caulking. After those were dry, I glued the saucer to the pole. Not too hard, huh?!

I had also planned to drill a hole at the bottom to drain the water. This turned out not to be so great an idea. My drill didn't penetrate the cup AT ALL! So if some rain gets in, the cup becomes a bird bath instead of a bird feeder: both very functional.

Check out my very own National Geographic Live!
Now, I know some people do everything they can to keep squirrels out of the bird feeders but I don't mind so much. Plus, I can't really help it. But, the birds are coming to visit too!!! These photos are little fuzzy because they're super zoomed in. I'm very happy with how they turned out. Total cost: $7. Awesome!

Fabric Rosette Pins and a Visit with a Friend

2010-07-31T08:40:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Sarah has been having some complications with her pregnancy and has been hospital bound for a little bit now. She was in major craft withdrawal so I went for a visit to give her a quick fix :) I needed a project that was fairly easy, didn't take too long, and didn't require a sewing machine. This is hard because Sarah and I both are very attached to our machines! So I searched and searched and found this tutorial at Little L izard King. We had both been looking for how to make these rosettes so I was really excited to find the tutorial.

It was so much fun just talking and crafting away. Here's how her flower turned out. I took these pics with my phone because I forgot the camera, which is why they're not that great. Sorry about that. Let's all keep Sarah and little baby boy in our thoughts and prayers.

These rosettes are so super easy that I just couldn't stop. We had a friend over for dinner that night and I thought, why not have craft time with her as well?!?! So we did.
She's actually pregnant (due next week) as well so the most comfortable place for us both was on the floor! So, in 2 days, I made three rosettes! That's how easy and quick they are to make. I have currently "misplaced" the one I made in the hospital with Sarah so here are some pics of the other two I made. They are so cute and so versatile. I'm so glad I found this tutorial!!! I'm off to make another one!

My First Award

2010-07-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! My first award!!! Butterflies in my stomach and everything!

Thanks so much to Sunny over at Life in Rehab for giving me this award. I'm excited and apparently, pretty versatile :)

So here are the guidelines for accepting this award.

1. Thank the person/people who gave it to you

Sunny, thanks so much for noticing my little blog. I'm flattered that as you put it "you need to peer daily into my life " :)

2.Share 7 things about yourself.

The first language I ever learned was Spanish. I knew no English when I started school.
I can change the oil in my car, thanks to my Wito (my grandpa), though my husband won't let me.
I owe my craftiness and domesticity to my Wita (my grandma). She taught me how to sew, knit, crochet and cook among many other things.
Before I was a stay at home mom, I worked with kids with special needs and I loved it.
I was in the marching band all through high school and I'm not ashamed to admit it!
I love DC comics. JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA FOREVER!!! (DC Comics are Batman, Superman, The Flash, etc....)
I love DC comics so much, that I have a Wonder Woman emblem tattoo on my ankle and my husband has The Flash emblem tattoo on his. We're just waiting for Isaac to come of age before we tattoo him! :)

3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers,whom you have recently discovered, and think are fantastic.

Handmade Mommy
This Blessed Nest
The Blackberry Vine
A Crafty Escape
Naptime Crafts
Oopsey Daisy
Life as Lori
Craft Rookie
Frugal Life Project
Wipster
Sumos Sweet Stuff
Tatertots and Jello
Shannon Makes Stuff
Little Lizard King
Get Your Crap Together

These are blogs that I've run into recently and have really enjoyed. I've also gotten an TON of good ideas from them. I hope you like them as well!

A note to those on the list: Congrats! To accept this award and display it proudly on your sidebar, you must:

1. Thank the person who gave it to you
2. Share 7 little secrets about you
3. Introduce us to 15 blogs that you have discovered and think are fantastic.

I hope that this is fun for all the people that are on the list and also for all my followers as you discover 15 creative blogs you may or may not have heard about!

Go Get Crafty!

More Big Boy Room

2010-07-27T13:34:00.001-07:00

I've been busy at work with some other finishing touches to Isaac's big boy room. I had a lot of fabric left over from the Quilted Duvet so this is what else I made.

First, the pillowcases. I was already planning on making these and I'm really happy with how they turned out. Some people have opted to make their pillowcases all from scratch but I chose Target. I sewed the pieces of fabric together then sewed that whole panel to the pillowcase and finished off one edge with ribbon. Here's a close-up. One of my serious pet-peeves is when a door won't stay open all the way, it slowly and gradually makes it was shut. Oh, it's just one of those things for me! Solution: a doorstop. I found this tutorial at Wipster and knew it would do the trick. I knocked this guy out in about an hour and a half. I love naptime! And here's one more picture to round it all out: My little man, loving his big boy bed! I still want to eat those chubby thighs up!!!

A New Look

2010-07-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

So I had to change my background and banner because the one I was using was discontinued. I hate to give up the polka dots but once again, it's stretching my creativity though I did revert to my other passion: all things Blue & Brown. I just love that color combination!

I'd love to know what you all think of it!!

Hanging Bag for the Closet

2010-07-21T18:10:00.001-07:00

I don't actually know what these bags are called, but I made one! We've been making a lot of furniture transitions lately for the nursery and the big boy room, and finally got a dresser for our bedroom. Now, I LOVE winter socks and have ENTIRELY too many. I just wasn't willing to sacrifice a whole drawer for them (yes, that's how many I have). So, I needed another inexpensive option. And here's what came of it. This picture shows the opening a little more clearly. Now, I know it's not super creative fabric but it's what I had in stock. And since it was all coming from my head (no pattern) I needed something that I was willing to sacrifice. But I think it turned out pretty good.

I'm planning on making another one so I'll do some tweaking and try to take some step by step pictures to share the tutorial.

Now, off to dump the socks in!

Wedding Presents

2010-07-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Four things I love

1) Weddings
2) Monograms
3) Freezer Paper Stenciling
4) Glass Etching

And here's what I made for some friends that incorporated all these things. Personalized aprons because they love cooking together, a monogrammed etched glass pitcher because who doesn't love those, and monogrammed dinner napkins because they're just awesome! Sorry it's so hard to see the pitcher in the back. I love how everything turned out. Though, it is times like these that I wish I had a Cricut. Cutting out 12 G's for the napkins was exceptionally tricky. But hey, labor of love right. Here's a picture of me and hubby with the happy couple just for fun.Congrats to the Gibbons!

Nursery Revamp and a New Technique

2010-07-12T08:34:00.000-07:00

We are 8 weeks away from Baby #2 coming and we are in GO mode. Isaac's in his big boy bed and our whole upstairs is in transition. YAY!

When I was pregnant with Isaac, we intentionally planned the nursery to be as gender neutral as possible so that everything could be used for all our children.This is still true but I really wanted a revamp. And I just couldn't stop thinking about MONKEYS!!!! I found this set up at Babies R Us but the wall decals were $20!! I just couldn't justify spending that much on stickers basically. So here's what I did: I pasted fabric monkeys and polka dots (of course) on the walls using a new technique of mixing cornstarch with water . It's safe for the paint and walls and they are removable. Here are two websites I used to find out more about this technique:

Sugar Bee and How About Orange

If you can believe it, I still had a lot of fabric that we used for Isaac's crib set. So I looked for a cute monkey template online (which was alot harder than I thought it would be) and started cutting away. The cutting is what always takes the longest. Here is a close up of the monkeys and dots. I really like the way it turned and I went from $20 to ABSOLUTELY FREE!!

The only thing is, the possibilities are oh so endless and I might have to control myself to not paste fabric over EVERY WALL in the house!!!

So excited to meet our little monkey!

My Apologies....and a Quilt

2010-07-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

First of all, I'm so very sorry for my blogging silence. Not that I haven't been busy doing things. Just super lazy about posting about them. Also, I've had a pretty big project that I've been working on.

My little man is in his bog boy bed now and after seeing this post on a quilted duvet at Handmade Mommy. It was so great and I knew I wanted to make one for Isaac. Here's how mine came out: Here are some detail pics: What's great is that it's a duvet and I already had a comforter to use. It was purple which is very not big boy. Here's a close up of the button closure for the duvet. I love the button-hole foot for my sewing machine. It made this step a breeze. Isaac really loved it. Here he is happily pointing at all the animals. What a little sweety.Thanks Kari for sharing the pattern with me!!

Father's Day Presents

2010-06-21T08:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of my boys with the present and card made my Isaac (and mami). Isaac is saying cheese, though he hasn't learned to smile while he says it :)This whole thing was so much fun. The card is pretty self-explanatory. Keeping his attention on it was the hardest part really.

The frame, I have to admit was not my idea. I got it from another blog during mother's day. I used foam board and a knife to make the letters. Knowing the letters would only be used this one time, I wasn't overly concerned with super clean edges and things. Here are the close-ups of the pictures I used.

What a cutey! Didn't intend on diaper only pictures, but dad was gonna be home any minute (because I procrastinated) and I didn't have time to dress him. Plus I ran the risk of putting him in a bad mood.

Here are some secrets: I took 166 pictures in order to get these three! He was a busy body! And, he didn't want to hold the "D" the right way so both of those pics had to be mirrored.

The picture frame I actually found at the Dollar Tree. Isn't that great?!? I was so sure finding the frame would be the hardest part and was relieved when I found it so quickly.

So Happy Father's Day to all those dads. I hope your kids (and wives) were extra crafty for you!

For Baby Lucas

2010-06-15T08:01:00.001-07:00

Some friends just had their first boy after 2 girls. I truly truly love making stuff like this. It is joy in my heart. So here's what I made for him.

And applique personalized burp cloth:
Neck tie and bow tie onesies. LOVE IT!!
We're all friends from East Carolina so here's the front of his ECU onesie using a freezer paper stencil:
And here's the back. 03 because he's the third baby.
Mom and Dad were really happy and excited to put this on him. And Mom said she would take pics of him wearing them, so hopefully I'll have one to put up soon.

Welcome to the world baby Lucas!!

World Cup Fever- Go Germany!

2010-06-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Not that I'm cheering for Germany (Go Mexico!) but my friend Nancy is. She grew up in Germany. I nanny for her little boy Finn. So when she said she wanted to make something German for Finn for the World cup, three words popped in my head: FREEZER PAPER STENCIL!!

So one day, she stayed here and we worked on Finn's onesie. Here's how it turned out. And here's the back:I thought it turned out really well and Nancy has told me that she's not planning on taking it off of Finn all weekend! I can't wait to see pictures of Finn wearing it!

Nora's Dress

2010-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

I posted about this ruffle dress below and mentioned that I didn't have the chance to take pictures of it. Well, mommy Carly was so sweet to send me pics of little Nora wearing it. It's such a different perspective when you're looking at it on the ironing board and when you see it on the baby.
The little birdie is stenciled on using freezer paper.
Isn't she just the cutest?!?! I'm glad you like your dress baby Nora (and mommy).

Hideaway Canvas

2010-06-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm majorly nesting right now. Unfortunately, and my husband would agree, it's not in a baby productive way. Baby #2 will be here soon and we're far from turning the guest/craft room into Isaac's big boy room. This is one of those not baby important projects.

Here's what I made using:

8x10 canvas (4)
scrapbook paper
craft paint
mod podge

What do you think? For what purpose, you ask? Well.......peek-a-boo! Oh, I've always hated the thermostat being right there, in the middle of the entry way wall. I mean, who thinks to put it in the most inconvenient spot ever? So after much thinking of ideas, and waiting for the right sales and coupons, I'm pretty happy with what turned out.

The instructions are pretty easy:

Paint the border of the canvas and some overlapping the top.
Measure and cut the paper about 1/2 centimeter less than the canvas
Glue on using mod podge
Finish with coat of mod podge.

See, super easy. Here are some close ups: I really loved the paper I was able to find.And of course, here's the money rundown:

paint: already had
mod podge: already had
paper: 2 at .59 and 2 at .99
canvas: 2 pack on sale for 3.60

PLUS, I had a coupon for 20% off the entire purchase including sale items! So it ended up being only about $8 for this project! And for the husband, that makes this project all the better, even if it's not baby productive.

Two More Projects off the Checklist

2010-06-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take pictures of my own projects before I gave them away, so here are the links and the pictures of the blogs where I got the ideas. **Note for emphasis: these are not my pictures***

Project #1:
Easy Fabric Grocery Bags @ Geta's Quilting Studio

I've made about 4 of these bags already. They are so easy and they make great gifts. I made one for a friend who's going overseas that she can take to the market.

Project #2
Ruffle Onesie Dress @ Sumo's Sweet Stuff
I made a dress like this for a friend who just had a baby girl. Of course, I used PINK POLKA DOT material! This was also fairly easy to make once you got the hang of it. Though it took a little longer than I thought.

So though I don't have my own pictures, I'm thankful for these two creative ladies for sharing their awesome ideas!

Summer Time Napkins using Freezer Paper

2010-05-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

I found these plain white waffle cloths at Target for 50 cents each a few months ago! Woo! They were long so I cut them in half to make 12 dinner napkins. That's only 25 cents each. Can't beat that.

They've been sitting there as I thought and thought on how to creatively and functionally spruce them up. As I was looking in my Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I found what I wanted to do. And this is what turned out.
I'm very happy with them. I used strips of freezer paper to make the lines. If you look closely, they have their imperfections but I really like them. Here's my outdoor set-up. We recently put in a stone patio in the backyard and purchased our outdoor dining set so of course I was so super excited to buy the plates and cups. And I hope you're all proud of me: I walked past all the polka dot stuff I saw to stretch my creativity. Coincidentally, the plates and cups are Better Homes and Gardens brand at Wal-mart.

I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Happy Summer Cook-Outs!

Recycle Those Magazines

2010-05-18T12:23:00.001-07:00

Here are two projects I made using old magazines. I have about 5 magazines coming to my house every month right now (I'm not even sure how that happened) so I am needing to recycle and throw them out faster than I usually do.

Project one: Butterfly collage for the half bath down stairs. It will be in the same bathroom as this magazine project.I used foam board, paint, mod podge, and hot glue. I don't know why i thought of this because I'm not a huge butterfly fan, but I just went with it. I don't know if you can tell but some of the butterflies are actually in "3D". For these, I folded the butterflies in half, put a strip of hot glue on the foam board, then, while still folded, I placed the butterfly in the hot glue. This made it "flap". The only thing I would do differently is not choosing the foam board. I didn't realize it would crinkle so much after I painted it. My suggestion: get your 40% off coupon and go buy a canvas.

Project #2: Mother's Day cards. This idea actually came out of project #1 in that I cut out ENTIRELY too many butterflies. And though I'm seriously not into making cards I found this pack of 20 at Micheal's for less than $2 and I just had to bite. The stamps I found at A.C. Moore for $1. It was a little tedious but I'm really happy with how they turned out. And I've been hearing from some of the mom's I sent them to that they really appreciated a homemade card. Total on these cards: $3. Total normally spent on Mother's Day Cards: about $8. Disclaimer: Card making will not become a habit of mine :)

I hope you inspired to recycle those magazines. I would love to hear of any other magazine projects you've tried.

Cabinet Door Make-Over

2010-05-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am so super excited to show you all this project. I literally finished it about 15 minutes ago and wanted to blog about it right away.

We have recently become in need of a doorway coat/key/purse hanger. But they are oh so very expensive. So we visited our neighborhood Habitat for Humanity Restore. If you've never been to one, I highly recommend it. And take a camera and notepad with you because you're creative juices will get flowing and flooding.

It all started with a cabinet door. How much you ask? A whole $2!!

Isn't it beautiful?!? Ok, maybe not, but just wait and see!

First I sanded it so that the paint would stick to it. See how it doesn't look shiny and finished anymore?

Next I used an espresso brown spray paint on it. It's our favorite color and we always make sure to have it in stock at our house. Then I let it dry overnight.

The next part is fun ladies! Get that power drill out! Woo!
Drill your holes and screw in the hooks. I already had the hooks from years ago but you can find them at Walmart for cheap.

Here's what it looks like painted and with the hooks screwed in.Oh I love it! But I'm not done yet. Looks pretty plain on the inside huh? Next find: 8x8 mirror squares, also at Walmart, for $3 each.

After measuring and marking where they will lie, I used mirror mounting tape ($2.50 at walmart) to attach them to the cabinet door. And here's the finished product:
Isn't it just great?!?! Luke really loves it. And it'll be his responsibility to hang it on the wall. Here's another angle:
I really think that it turned out great. The best part was obviously the cost. Total ended up being $10. LOVE IT! How much do these cost at the store? Definitely about $40.

And seriously, if you haven't been to a ReStore, GO! I have 2 other big projects I'm working on from stuff we got there.

Happy Re-purposing!

Some Simple Wedding Presents

2010-05-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Our friends, Jon and Maggie, just got married this past weekend. Here are the wedding presents that I made for them. One was an etched pitcher with their new initial and the other a set of dinner napkins with their monogram.

For the pitcher, I used etching cream and this tutorial. I had initially thought to freezer paper stencil the napkins because I'm slightly obsessed with that right now, but I ran out of time and decided to go with transfer paper instead.

As a surprise, I also put engagement pictures of Jon and Maggie on some of the napkins, also using transfer paper.

Congratulations Jon and Maggie!

Beach Retreat & Craft Time

2010-05-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

Every year, during the last weekend of April, we go to the beach with our Life Class (another name for our Sunday School class). It is always such a blast and we just love the long weekend away staying in a house right on the beach.

This year, we added some craft time for the ladies! Yipee!! you know I was excited. We decided to stencil some beach bags with some freezer paper. It was alot of fun. Here's a picture of us getting started.
Some of the other ladies decided not to do the bag, but to bring their own incomplete project and sit and just have some girl time. Here's what Leslie's bag looked like when it was all done. I love freezer paper. If I had a Cricut, I would stencil everything in my house! Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.

Just for fun, here's some pictures of my family. And here's me and the boy (and baby brother)Oh, the weekend went by way too fast and I already can't wait until next year. And I walked away with an awesome boat bag.

Someday Crafts

2010-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

Michelle over at Someday Crafts has featured me again for her Categorically Crafting Fridays. This weeks theme was TP Rolls.

She featured my Two Uses for Toilet Paper Rolls. Check the feature out HERE.

She really has a great website. I check it often. She was some really awesome ideas and is also a great resource to find ideas on other blogs.

On a different note, I reached 10,000 hits on my blog this morning!! Yay! I'm very excited. So because of this momentous occasion, leave me a comment letting me know:

who you are
where you're from
what you'd like to see more of on my blog

Also, if you're not a follower, click FOLLOW over on the side bar and become one!!!!

I'm so thankful that God has given me an outlet for my creativity. I've definitely always been a crafter but since becoming a stay at home mom, it's become quite a passion for me. Thanks to all my friends for such encouraging words and messages!

Unexpected Break

2010-04-27T11:46:00.001-07:00

Well I certainly didn't mean to take a two week vacation from blogging. I guess I was so busy doing things that I didn't have the time to actually post them.

Hope you all are still with me. I will try to get some posting done this week!

My Dollar Tree Find

2010-04-15T11:22:00.001-07:00

All size ribbon at the Dollar Tree. Oh my. I must contain myself.

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Magazines and Playdough

2010-04-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here are two things that have been on my checklist for a while that I finally got done.

1. Magazine Straw Magazine holder. What better way to hold my magazines in the bathroom than with rolled up old magazine pages! I got the box for like a dime. I originally thought to Mod Podge some pretty paper on the box but then saw this awesome idea HERE. I like the way it turned out!

2. Homemade Playdough. Easy enough and I really hope Isaac likes it. I got this recipe HERE.

Two Down, many more to go!

March Craft Club

2010-04-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

This month I hosted our craft club put on by Sarah at CREATE. This month we tried our hand at freezer paper stencils. So easy and so fun!

The benefits of freezer paper are:

You can get it pretty cheap at walmart
You can iron the freezer paper directly onto your fabric to minimize seeping.
The paper peels right off with no left behind residue.
You can feed it through your printer and print your design directly on the printer.

To paint on fabric you'll need

regular acrylic paint
textile medium

It really was easy. Here's Sarah painting a little onesie for her little one coming in September.
Here's the onesie I painted before I peeled off the paper. I made a bird just in case I was having a girl. But now that I know I'm having a boy, it will probably be given to someone.

Here are my finished products. I also made initialed pillow cases for Luke and I. I'm a sucker for monogrammed stuff!

Here's a trick we discovered: Iron on the freezer paper to the front and the back of whatever you're painting. This gives your fabric stability and prevents the paint leaking and sticking.

Have fun stenciling!

Sunday Hymn Sing

2010-04-11T11:18:00.001-07:00

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
Thou silver moon with softer gleam!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising moon, in praise rejoice,
Ye lights of evening, find a voice!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

O praise Him! O praise Him!
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Cupcake Stand

2010-04-07T14:32:00.001-07:00

For Easter, I usually enjoy and am more than willing to bring dessert to Easter lunch. This year, however, though I was just as excited, I was completely blank on what to make. i wanted try something new and creative but I just couldn't think of anything. So I settled for cupcakes. They did have a minty cream filling though! So to make up for my lack of creativity, I decided to make my own cupcake stand! It was alot easier than I thought it would be. I thought it turned out great! Here's what you need (at least, here's what I used):

2 foam boards
2-3 flower Styrofoam squares
4-5 sheets scrapbook paper (in design of choice)
mod podge
hot glue gun & glue
2in. wide ribbon (in coordinating color as paper)
3/8in. wide ribbon (is same or coordinating color as paper)
tools : sponge brush, rotary cutter or xacto knife, pins, cutting mat or ruler

Note: I apologize for not taking pictures along the way.

Instructions:

Cut out 2 of each layer of foam board. I used 2 for stability. Measurements as follows: 12in x 12in, 10in x 10in, and 8in x 8in.
Cut out 1 of each layer of scrapbook paper, in same measurements. If you want to cover bottom side of each layers, cut out 2 of each but make sure and buy more paper.
Mod Podge paper onto board. Once dry, add another layer of Mod Podge on top to finish off.
Once these are dry, hot glue the 2 pieces of foam board (of the same size) together. Lay heavy books on top to flatten and evenly glue.
While this is drying, start wrapping the 2in. wide ribbon around the foam blocks. Don't go around and around. just cut out 3 strips (or as many as you need) and wrap each strip around one at a time. Fold down raw edge and pin down with simple silver pins. If you have pretty white ball tip pins, use those. I only used 2 blocks for a total of 3 layers.
After the foam board layers are done drying, start hot gluing the 3/8 in. wide ribbon around the edge of the boards. Do little sections at a time because the hot glue dries very quickly.
This is the trickiest part. Center the blocks on each layer making sure they align from every angle. Hot glue the foam blocks onto the board. It dries very quickly and strong so make sure and get it right!

And you're done! Here's out mine turned out with the cupcakes on it. Some of the cupcakes were already gone by the time I took the picture. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. It really goes fast. If I could've done it in one sitting, it would've taken me about 1 hour maybe 2, but with a husband and a toddler, it basically took me all day :)

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T07:39:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter and I hope you all did too! Here are some pictures highlighting our day!

If you follow my blog, you know another thing I'm slightly obsessed with is matching my family on special days. And Easter is no exception. I made Luke a tie, Isaac a romper, and myself a skirt in matching yellow gingham. LOVE IT!!! Isaac found some chocolate after the egg hunt while I wasn't looking. Oops! And my two boys. I love my family so very much! And thanks to my awesome sweet husband who was such a good sport about our matching outfits!

Cascarones (Spanish for Egg Shells)

2010-04-02T07:55:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce you to my Easter Egg Hunt Tradition growing up in Laredo, Texas, which I lovingly call, "Practically Mexico", since it's a border town.

Growing up, we didn't hunt for plastic eggs with candy in them. In fact, I don't remember candy at all during Easter. That's not to say there wasn't any, I just remember then eggs more. My family would start weeks in advance saving eggs shells for the hunt. Then on easter, we would lok and look and look. Then, once the eggs were found, it was a free for all, chasing eachother aroud the yard cracking the cascarones, which were filled with confetti, on each others heads. Sounds crazy I know, but I remember it being so much fun. I don't actually remember a whole lot of what would happen after this.

So in this blog, I'm going to show you how to make a traditional Mexican cascarone. I know it's late since I've been saving for months, but maybe, if you have a big family and are gonna make a lot of omelets this weekend, you might have a shot!

First, getting the eggs shells. I would take a butter knife and slowly but firmly (but not too hard) crack away the top of the egg, the top being the narrow end. Chip all around the top then just remove it. This doesn't have to be perfect and it won't be a perfect line, just as long as you have most of the egg in tact. Make sure you wash them out well in soapy hot water. Don't want any salmonella here people.

Here's how mine turned out. And here's an important note, I actually cooked the eggs and ate them for breakfast. I'm not trying to support the wasting of food here.

Next, start dying the eggs. I just used the food coloring you can get at the store and followed the instructions , which included boiling water and white vinegar. Disregard the ugly colors, I thought they would be a pretty purple and pink but turned out pretty yuck.

Next, fill the eggs with confetti. I don't actually know where you can get confetti. Try a party supply store or a mexican store. I got mine when I was in Mexico a few weeks ago and it was very inexpensive.

Then, glue small squares of tissue paper on top of the opening. I used watered down Elmer's Glue and a foam brush.

And that's it! I know Isaac's going to be too small so we might invite some of the neighborhood kids over. So, if you are able to get to it this year, GREAT! If not, save this link and try it next year!!

**This is the last of my Easter projects. Hope you've enjoyed them. Scroll down to the the rest or click the links below:

Easter Banner
Easter Scripture Tree
Easter Egg Wreath
Easter Kitchen Towels and Coasters

Easter Banner

2010-04-02T07:33:00.001-07:00

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

Here is the Easter Banner I made for my family. I used an egg outline I found on line and cut out as follows,

-2 big eggs of Easter fabric per letter
-1 big egg of fusible interfacing per letter
-2 small eggs of simple white fabric (my white fabric was pretty see through which is why I layered it, but the layering is optional)

After everything is cut, begin the following:

1. Iron on interfacing to one of the big eggs per letter
2. Design your phrase on the computer and print out mirrored image onto transfer paper.
3. Iron on image/letters onto the small white egg (follow manufacturers instructions)

Then the sewing begins:
1. On the big egg with the interfacing, sew on the two small white eggs, making sure your image is on the top. (I just sewed right on, not worrying to much about straight lines, it was messy cute)
2. Sew this big egg to the big egg, wrong sides together. (again...messy cute, see pic for close up).

Here's what the finished egg will look like:Measure out the amount of ribbon depending on how you want it to drape. My phrase was really long which is why I decided to go with two drapes. I used simple half inch white satin ribbon.

Position eggs on ribbon to determine spacing and start hot gluing them on. And that's it. Not too hard just time consuming with the cutting (I hate cutting) and the sewing.

My hubby and I decided that for next year, we'll wait and pull the banner out on Easter morning to give our children the visual that something special has happened that day!

Easter Egg Scripture Tree

2010-04-02T07:13:00.001-07:00

Wow, Easter is this weekend and I still have 3 projects to post. Here is my Easter Tree. It was really easy. I found THIS template online for these cute little eggs. Your technically supposed to have 2-sided eggs but because 1) I wanted to write scripture on the back and 2) wanted to save some color ink, I decided to just make one sided eggs and print 40 of them. 40 because it's the number of days in lent.

So I printed and cut them out. Here's the best part, I was planning on laminating them and on my recent trip to the Scrap Exchange, I found this package of self-laminating sheets (where you don't need the machine) brand new for $3! I was very excited! after then were all laminated and cut out, I just hole punched them and tied some simple ribbon to them. This proved to be the hardest part because I just have a wimpy dollar tree hole puncher. Too bad Luke wasn't around.

Then on to the branch hunt in the back yard. I wasn't extrememly happy with the branches I found but thought they were good enough, and didn't want to go in the woods beyond our fence.

Another tricky part was finding Easter verses but through prayer and Luke's help, we found some. We haven't done that great of a job reading one every day but I know one day, Isaac, and all of out children will enjoy decorating our Easter Tree together!

He is Risen!

Puzzle Blocks

2010-03-25T13:14:00.001-07:00

While my husband and a friend were installing our new kitchen sink and faucet, I was upstairs crafting away. I found these awesome little wooden blocks at the Scrap Exchange some weeks ago. I didn't have any ideas at the moment but at 10 cents each, I knew could eventually come up with something. So here you go: Puzzle Blocks! I originally thought to make some Brown Bear Brown Bear Blocks but there are more animals that sides to the blocks, though I still used the blue horse.

1. Measure the total length and width for the block. Mine were 1 in. blocks so the whole panel was 2in. x 3 in. Find some pictures, shrink to fit the panel and print. I originally had the idea to have family pictures on there but there aren't 6 of us......yet!

2. After printing, on the back, draw your grid so you know where to cut. 3. After your pieces are cut, get the mod podge and start gluing. I used a matte finish mod podge as opposed to the glossy kind. Glue the picture on the block then do one coat over the picture. Allow Each side to dry before starting on another side.

You could even make some silly animals. This was a really easy project that I finished in about 2 hours. Finding and sizing pictures to print is what took the longest. These are alittle too old for Isaac but I though our friend, (who was downstairs until midnight working on the sink) his daughter would really like them. She's older than Isaac. So there you go, created and gifted all in one night!

Hope you like them Isabelle!

Paper Mache Easter Egg Wreath

2010-03-25T12:24:00.000-07:00

I started this wreath about 3 or 4 weeks ago. And boy was it tedious. I've always wanted an egg wreath but they are so expensive! I had a really great time making it and Luke was really great about taking over other house things to help me finish it. He also put up with the mess I left everywhere while I worked on it :) Okay here we go!

1. Paper Mache` your eggs. I used a flour and water mixture as the glue. Dip the strips one by one and stick them to the eggs. I used plastic eggs. This took some time to do and the eggs needed a good 24 hours to completely dry. Looking back, I could've skipped this step, but it gave the eggs a nice texture and guaranteed the paint wouldn't scratch off. (If you like the color your plastic eggs are, then just skip right down to the gluing step.)

2. Paint the eggs and the foam wreath form. I painted the wreath form because I was certain the eggs would leave gaps and I didn't want to see that yucky green color through it. I also used some pretty easter colors. I the paint I used was the basic acrylic paint, nothing fancy.

3. When everything is dry, start hot gluing the eggs to the wreath. I didn't go around the whole wreath, just the "front". That is, I laid the wreath flat on the table and only glued the top. This also assures that the wreath will lay flat on the door. ** My foam circle (which I also got at the dollar tree) was about 10in. wide and I used exactly 32 eggs. The eggs at the dollar tree came in packages of 16.

4. Tie a ribbon around the wreath. Measure how far you want it to hang down from the wreath hanger then tie a nice bow.

5. Stand back and look at you creation! It wasn't the easiest craft, but I'm really REALLY happy with how it turned out. I often tell Luke how excited I get when something I make looks like how it looked in my head, and this was one of those things!

Happy Easter!!

Easter Is Coming

2010-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back in town. What an adventure we had. I loved seeing my family and taking my husband back to my hometown for the first time. He keeps telling me that he understands my quirks a little more clearly now after spending time where I grew up and with my family. Just for fun, here's a picture of Isaac with his great grandparents. So cute, I could just cry.Anywho, I hope you all are still with me. Here, as promised, are a few of the Easter projects I worked on before we left. Easter in our family is just as important as Christmas. And I try to anticipate and prepare for it just as much. As followers of Jesus, Easter should be just as important as Christmas. Christmas is when God came to us in the form of a baby, but Easter is when Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. And not only die, but He was RAISED TO LIFE! Our Savior is ALIVE! We really want to teach Isaac, and all our children that Easter is so much more about Jesus than about the bunny and eggs and candy. So in all my crafts, I used easter eggs and colors, but I always tried to add Jesus into it! Here's the first:

Easter Kitchen Towels and Coasters. I got this fabric at a Walmart that was closing down for 75% off. WooHoo. I also got the towels at the dollar tree. I first printed and ironed on the "He is Risen on some white fabric, and "cutely messily"sewed in on the easter fabric. Then I sewed this onto the towels. Super easy.For the coasters, I sewed them right sides together leaving an opening to turn them inside out. Then I pinned the white fabric with the writing onto the easter fabric. Then I sewed around and around until I got to the middle.
Happy Easter everyone. Two more projects to come.

Deep In the Heart of Texas

2010-03-16T15:22:00.001-07:00

The stars at night, are big and bright
(clap,clap,clap,clap)
deep in the heart of Texas!

We are going on a week long vacation to Texas to visit my family! I am excited. But that means I won't be doing much blogging.

So don't lose heart with the lack of blogs. I have been working on MANY Easter crafts that I am excited to share with you. Please check back in about a week!

Sunday Hymn Sing

2010-03-13T17:04:00.001-08:00

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving- kindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all Thy love accepting,
Love Thee, ever all my days;
Let me seek Thy kingdom only
And my life be to Thy praise;
Thou alone shalt be my glory,
Nothing in the world I see.
Thou hast cleansed and sanctified me,
Thou Thyself hast set me free.

In Thy truth Thou dost direct me
By Thy Spirit through Thy Word;
And Thy grace my need is meeting,
As I trust in Thee, my Lord.
Of Thy fullness Thou art pouring
Thy great love and power on me,
Without measure, full and boundless,
Drawing out my heart to Thee.

Hear it HERE

Not Pretty but The Boy Loves It!

2010-03-08T09:31:00.000-08:00

Before I was a mom, I was a developmental therapist for kids (0-3) with special needs. I also worked with a bunch of other therapists and we all had our "bag of tricks" of stuff we would use for therapy. This is one of them. Like the title says, it's not pretty but very functional. I took a plastic container I had and cut a slit on the lid. Then, I got some poker chips that I found in the dollar spot at Target a few months ago, on clearance no less, for about 70 cents! The object is to push the poker chips through the slit. This little activity is good for fine motor skills, problem solving skills, eye-hand coordination skills, and a good activity for increasing attention span. I would recommend this activity kids about 10 months-18months. This way, they're past the "everything straight to the mouth" stage but aren't at the "this is so easy, I'm bored" stage. This little can of coins has come in handy in restaurants, at church and for Blanket Time. For little guys, like mine, it may take you sitting with him to try and figure it out a few times before he takes to it himself. If he doesn't feel success, then he'll never like it. I also did the same thing with an old can of formula and marbles. Just cut an "X" on the lid instead of just one slit (you MUST ALWAYS supervise this one however).

How much did this one cost me? 70 cents!!!! You can't beat that. And if you did want to make it pretty, you could just mod podge some nice paper to it. But, the way I see it, Isaac didn't look up and say, "I'm only gonna play with this if it has nice paper around it."

Sunday Hymn Sing

2010-03-07T11:14:00.001-08:00

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

It's a Bag......Or is it?

2010-03-03T12:35:00.000-08:00

The fact that it's a bag is only half of the story. The other half is that it's actually a blanket! I took some of Isaac's old receiving blankets and cut them into 12"x12" squares and sewed them together for a 36 inch square blanket. I cut 18 squares total for two sides. I strategically sewed on some velcro strips in order to make pockets for the toys. Then, I sewed on some straps. Here's a picture breakdown of how the blanket turns into a bag. First, the bottom side opposite the strap folds up. And there you can see the other strap. Then the right side comes over so the short velcro strips match up. Then the left side. Then just fold in half so that straps meet. Here's a close-up of how the velcro makes pockets. Why did I make it you ask? Here's the reason:

I was talking to my friend Andrea one day about how the time when I'm making dinner is always the hardest for Isaac. As soon as he sees any food, starvation hits him and he starts crying and whining, and pulling at me right there in the kitchen. It's not only frustrating, but not safe for Isaac when sometimes I'm in and out of the oven and the fridge, and he's in all the cabinets, and on and on and on. And whenever I took him out of the kitchen, he would wail and only come back in. She said that she had taught her son, Benjamin, about "blanket time". This is a time when Ben would sit on his blanket and play with special (not out all the time) toys until daddy came home or until meals were ready or really anytime that he needed to be confined without being imprisoned in his crib or pack-n-play. I thought this was a great idea and couldn't wait to start teaching Isaac. But being crafty, I just had to make my own blanket for him. The straps are so that the blanket can be an on the go blanket and the pockets are to put the toys in. Now that Isaac is walking, it's hard to keep control of him at other people's houses, especially those that aren't baby proofed. So this technique doesn't just work at home, but at friend's houses too. It took about a week to teach Isaac the concept. The first few days required ALOT of bringing him back and ALOT of crying, but then he got it. And now, as soon as I say "blanket time", he happily comes and sits. The "happily" part really does change from day to day though:) We even have started using the blanket for Bible time everyday.

Thanks Andrea for the great idea! What would we do without other moms to help us in our mommy journey!

Cake Batter Ice Cream

2010-03-02T11:47:00.000-08:00

We love Cake Batter Ice Cream. So instead of going to Cold Stone Creamery and spending WAY too much, I learned to make it myself. Wanna know how? It's so easy!

What you need:
-1 container vanilla ice cream (softened but not melted)
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- ingredients needed for cake.

What you do:

1. Take a little less than half the cake mix and mix with water only until it becomes a nice batter consistency (sorry I didn't measure how much exactly, I'm an eye-baller). Set aside. This will be what you add to the ice cream, and we don't want any raw egg in there.
2. Prepare the rest of the cake mix to bake the cake. You'll have to modify the measurements. For example, if the box call for 3 eggs, only use 1. (the cake doesn't have to be absolutely perfect).
3. Put the mix in a loaf pan and bake until toothpick comes out clean (The bake time will also be modified from what the box says depending on how much batter you have).
4. Let the cake cool completely and cut it into small squares.

Now for the ice cream:

1. **This part has to be done quickly so the ice cream doesn't melt too badly.**Take all of the ice cream out of the container and put it in your kitchen aid mixer (Any mixer, including hand held will do. the hand held may just be a little harder to handle). DO NOT THROW CONTAINER AWAY.
2. As the ice cream is being mixed, slowly add the batter until it's well mixed in. You may or may not have to add all the batter, just watch to see that it's being thoroughly mixed in.
3. While the mixer is still running, add your cake squares gradually but not too slowly. Again, we don't want the ice cream to completely melt in the mixer. Also, you may or may not use all the cake squares. Again, just watch and see that's it's a good balance for you.
4. After the cake squares are added, continue mixing only until it's all well integrated. Not too long because then all the cake will just be crumbly in the ice cream and you won't have any nice cake chunks in there.
5. Finally, put the mixed ice cream back into the container. Put back in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes so it can harden back up a little.

And that's it. So it is a little time consuming, but generally really easy. And it's oh so good! Enjoy making Something Wonderful!

**Note: The picture is not of the ice cream I made, just a picture I found online**

How Much Wood Could Isaac Chuck Chuck?

2010-02-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

Well, a lot apparently. Poor The Boy. Bad The Mom. I can't believe I let it get this bad. But, don't worry, I've fixed it. I know you're all thinking that I bought one of those plastic thingys, but i didn't. Because why buy when you can MAKE!!! I have ALOT of left over fabric from when Isaac's grandmother made him his bumpers so I decided to use that, some white muslin, and some batting. I also sewed in some ribbon to tie it onto the crib. Measured, cut and sewed, and voila! And it looks nicer than the plastic cover. Plus you would have still seen the chucked up wood. Now all you see is nothing. Unfortunately, Isaac's found another spot to start chewing on, so I'll be making another one of these soon! I'm glad Isaac's gotten the most use out of this crib before his little brother or sister starts using it!

This is One Sophisticated Baby!

2010-02-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

I just love this fabric!!!! If you read my blog on any regular basis, you know that I'm completely obsessed with polka dots!!! My friend Julie Powell had a baby in December and I made her little shoes and a special burp cloth.I call this sophisticated baby because it's not a cutesy little girly baby fabric. But it's so awesome. and I think something about the black also makes it a little more "sophisticated"! Mom loved it and I'm sure baby Grace will feel a princess in them one day!!

Knitting Needle Holder for Jamie

2010-02-15T13:45:00.000-08:00

My friend Jamie started knitting about 2 or 3 years ago. She needed a hobby to occupy her time and mind. Boy did she jump into it. She's a masterful knitter now. She knit Isaac a green and white polka dot blanket! It was amazing! I about cried when she gave it to us and boy does Isaac love cuddling with it. I might feature her one day and show all the stuff she's made.

Anyway, all that to say, she has accumulated alot of knitting needles and supplies. So I made her a knitting needle holder. I saw one online (check out the link under "What I want to try") but it looked alittle too involved for me. This is one of the things I finished up during the snow weekend we had a couple of weeks ago. I just loved making it and I think it turned out great. I was so excited to give it to her.

For this project, I even made my own bias tape. Check back later to see how. On the inside, I put pockets of different widths, 1", 2", and 3". You can't really tell from the picture because it's all the same fabric.This was because knitting needles come in various sizes. I also put a little pocket on the upper lift hand side for little knitting knick knacks you use. I had alot of bias tape left over so I just sewed it together to make it a tie.This may sound prideful, but I was very proud of how it turned out. It was one of those things that actually turned out the way it looked in my head, and that's pretty exciting.

In conclusion, Jamie really loved it and said that she was excited to start using it! YAY!

Two Uses for Toilet Paper Rolls

2010-02-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

Recycle and re purpose the hundreds of toilet paper rolls you go through. For these projects, I actually used wrapping paper rolls and just cut them all to about 5in.

The first thing you do is glue on some pretty paper. I used both Mod Podge and spray adhesive. I found that the mod podge worked alot better at keeping the paper glued. Measure around the tube and also the length. I added about 1/2 inch to the circumference so that it would overlap. You could even use pretty contact paper.

Use #1: Keep all those extension cords and small cables organized! We have a ton that we use for Christmas and my husband has a cable for everything but they aren't always being used. Before, they were all tangled in a plastic bag. Luke ALWAYS ended up frustrated looking for his cables. Now, they're all right there. Now, for the men, they probably don't need, okay, definitely don't need the pretty paper. Buy hey, who's the one making them? So who has creative freedom? That's right, we do!

Use #2: Party favors or simple gifts. I did these for Valentine's Day for my neighbors. After you glue the paper on, fold the ends in, one side at a time. I know that sounds confusing so here's a picture.Inside I put some Hershey's kisses but you could put any kind of candy or treat that fits. I also put these Bible verses inside.

"And this is love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:10,19

My purpose for making these was to remind people of what true love is. It's not a feeling and it's not something that we can go looking for in a person on one day where gifts of love are expected. It's the love of Jesus, and in Him, we can experience true love everyday! After you've filled it, fold the other ends in as well. I also put a sticker on the front to tell who it's from and the address of our house (we're still pretty new to the neighborhood). Then, my family and I went to deliver them to our neighbor's mailboxes. I know, I know, we should've knocked on the door, but I'm still a little intimidated. Pray for me!

Anywho, the possibilities for #2 are really endless. Think about theme parties, birthday parties, party favors, wedding favors... I could keep going. And more importantly, CHEAP!!! or I mean, inexpensive.

Gotta Get Workin!

2010-02-12T16:58:00.000-08:00

I have really got to start working on my "What I Want to Try" list. It is getting long!

Wish me luck!

When God Gets Crafty....

2010-02-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

...babies get made! We are praising God for blessing us with a new addition to our family! My due date in September 1st which puts me at about 10 weeks. We are very excited!!!! Which also means I'm gonna start getting baby crafty again! Thanks for praising God with us!

Family Silhouettes

2010-02-03T11:55:00.000-08:00

Since our Christmas Trees came down, I have been really bothered by the emptiness and blandness of the corner where the Christmas tree was. We prefer family pictures instead of artwork but I just didn't know how to get it decorated. Silhouettes are big now and there are alot of different ways that you can get them done (for a price) or ways that you can do it yourself. I even found that there are alot of different DIY ways . So here's what I came up with. My husband was on board the whole time and was really excited when he saw the finished product. So this is the way I did it (and sorry I don't have step by step pictures)

1. Take profile pictures of everyone in your family.
2. Shrink and crop to the size that you want and print them out.
3. Very carefully cut along the profile trying to exact as many of the bumps and curves of the face and hair as you can.
4. Paint the cut outs black. It took me about three coats with regular acrylic paint to get it really black.

And that's it as far as the silhouettes. Next, I wanted to do something different for the frame and matting. The frames I had were shadow frames I got a long time ago. They had a matte that sat right against the glass and a "board" that sat lifted up higher. (I don't know if that makes sense and you can't really tell from the picture). I had some book pages from another project I worked on that I decided to mod podge onto both the matte and the back board. After those were dry, I simply glued, the silhouette with mod podge, and put another coat on top. The whole porject took about 2-3 hours spread over a couple of days (there's only so much you can do during naptime!). Total cost for the project $0! I had everything at home. And yes, I even did one of the dog....little MissyGirl! I am very happy with how they turned out and I think it adds so much to our living room!

faith

2010-01-28T12:26:00.001-08:00

I had these coasters that I found at the Target dollar spot many years ago. they were the glass kind that you slide in pictures and had a nice white border. Well, Luke hated them. Even more so when we had Isaac. He just knew Isaac was gonna cut his finger off with one of them :) I actually started not liking them after a while. The condensation just ran right off them them (defeating the purpose of the coaster) and cups always stuck to them then came crashing down. Too much drama. So they've just stayed stored away. Then my brain started working on how repurpose these.

I took off the photo pocket and scraped ( i mean seriously scraped) the white border off until I had a nice clean, clear glass square. I had seven of them. And this is what I ended up with!
I love it. Luke wasn't too sure about it, but when I was all done and they were displayed, he loved them.

It was pretty easy, once you got past the scraping. Of course, if you have floating frames or other plane glass panels, you won't have to go through the scraping. Then I picked a word and a simple design. I don't have a stencil maker so I picked easy fonts and design I knew I would be cutting them by hand. I printed it on card stock and cut away.
My initial plan was to glue the letter to the back of the glass, but, the mod podge showed badly and very messily on the front of the letters, so I just glued to the front of the glass. Uh, so fun. Except, I centered the "a" instead of putting it low to like up with the other letters, but you can't tell too badly.

Next hurdle, how to keep them standing. I walked the aisles of the Dollar Tree looking for something that would work. I found some cord clips. 16 for a dollar, not bad. I spray painted them black. When it was time to slide the glass panel in, I noticed that it wasn't completely sturdy and could very easily lean. So I just added a bit of hot glue for stability, and voila:It stands!! These were so easy and so fun. I was done in one day and I love love love what it adds to our living room! And total cost of the project.....$1! I had everything on hand except the cord clips. Which made Luke love it even more!!

Sorry for the break...

2010-01-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

but don't you worry. I've been crafting like crazy and I love them all. I'll try to start putting them up MAYBE today but probably tomorrow.

Stay Tuned....

For Next Year

2010-01-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Great Target find!! Originally would have cost me $20 for all these ornaments. How much did I pay?...........$2! They were 90% off. Man, I wanted to buy more and more, but #1)don't have the space and #2) didn't have any great ideas for more.

What am I making with these ornaments? Why an ornament wreath of course!!! I've had my eyes on these for years but just never wanted to spend the cash to buy one or even make one. Even ornaments at the dollar tree and begin to add up when you've gotten as many as you need. But, 25 cents for one package....you just can't beat that!

So, Christmas next year I'll have an ornament wreath on my door. Or maybe my window........

Goodwill Treasure

2010-01-05T08:01:00.001-08:00

I found this amazing, oh so cute, little kid's table at goodwill the other day. The price...a whopping $5!! I'm excited for little Isaac boy to use it. I'm not too crazy about the colors so I definitely have my brain turning and turning about what I could do to it to make it Isaac-y. Unfortunately, because of my love for polka dots, that's all I ever go to. I'm trying to avoid polka dots in order to stretch my creativity more.

I would love any ideas that you all have!!

Christmas Picture

2009-12-28T17:23:00.001-08:00

Here are the pictures of my sweet family at the Christmas Eve Love Feast. (hear me screaming happily here!) Luke wore his bow tie proudly and everyone just ooo-ed and aww-ed at them.Oh I just can't stand it!!! HE'S SO CUTE!! and he's so precious to me. Thanks MaMa-WatWat (cathy watkins) for his awesome green corduroy Christmas pants!!!Here are the three of us. I know you can't see my necklace too well but it looked good. And I also mod-podged some shoes with red fabric at the last minute to give me more Christmas flare! I didn't take pictures though.

We had a great time celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Every time I think of what the angels told the shepherds, "Behold, I bring you GOOD NEWS of GREAT JOY that will be for all people" , I just break down and cry. Thank you God, for coming to earth in the form of a baby and saving me from my sins. AMEN!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I'm a Dork

2009-12-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

That's what my friend Anna called me when I showed her this stuff that I made. Two things I love, Christmas, and matching-matching everything! Combine those two and what do you get: matching Christmas bow ties for my husband and son and matching Christmas necklace for me! AHHHHHHH! So excited to wear these at our church's Christmas Eve Love Feast! Here are the links I used as inspiration : Bow Ties and Necklace. Don't ask me how I attached the ribbon to the necklace because I really don't know......I just messed with it until it worked.

So call me a dork if you want, but I'm just a proud Christmas loving mom!!! I'll post a picture later of how we all look wearing them!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Ornament Exchange and Craft Time

2009-12-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

Every year (except for last year because my little guy had just been born) I have hosted a Christmas ornament exchange for the ladies in my Sunday school. It has always been a really great time, and I hope that it is a tradition that will continue to go on and on. Recently I added a craft time where all the ladies make an ornament together to commemorate our time. I think everyone has loved doing this. Here are some pictures of our time together. Leslie and Leah were working really hard on theirs. And this is the felt ornament that we made. I found this tutorial from CREATE. It was really easy once you got the hang of it, especially if you're not used to hand sewing.

It was a really great time together. We had fun making fun of our sewing skills and also talking about our family Christmas tradition.

Merry Christmas!

ABC's

2009-12-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Here's some fabric letter that I made for The Boy! That's what we call my son Isaac. He's turning 1 tomorrow! I can't believe it! They weren't too hard to make, just really time consuming. I used a variety of fabrics that I already had that had a blue focus to them. I also bought a yard of this batting and just sandwiched them, then sewed on top. So the edges are raw but I think it's fine. My goal is that they'll get a nice fluffy fray look after I throw them in the wash. Oh I hope he likes them.

Christmas Handtowels and Coasters

2009-12-01T07:06:00.001-08:00

My sister-in-law, Alinna has been married a little over a year and they have only been in their apartment for about 2 months. She needed some Christmas things, so for her birthday, I made her these towels and coasters! I saw this idea at Homemade By Jill. She really liked them, and I have all kinds of ideas going through my head now. The possibilities are endless!

Pumpkin Pudding

2009-11-30T07:15:00.001-08:00

I do NOT like pumpkin pie. I think it's a serious texture issue for me. So for Thanksgiving this year, I decided to make some pumpkin pudding. I saw it on Rachael Ray last year and was excited to try it. It was a big hit! Mostly just to my husband really. A lot of people filled up on pie before they could try it, but I'm glad Luke liked it!Here's the recipe:

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground clove
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 5.1-ounce package instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups heavy cream
1 12-ounce box Ginger Snaps

( I didn't have ground clove, so I used pumpkin pie spice instead, and I also used vanilla wafers instead of ginger snaps. Oh and instead of whipping cream, I used Cool Whip: a lot cheaper and a lot easier)

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin, spices, pudding mix and a good splash of water (about 1/4 cup). Using an electric mixer, beat everything together until smooth and thickened, about 2 minutes. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

3. To assemble, layer the cookies and pudding mixture in a serving dish (or several individual dishes) in whatever fashion you like. Cover the puddings with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 and up to 8 hours (you want the ginger snaps to soften up from sitting in the pudding mixture).
So there you go! Enjoy! There's a few weeks left in Fall for you to bust out this recipe!

Birthday Banner

2009-11-20T12:00:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I've temporarily lost my oomph! for blogging. BUT, that doesn't mean that I've stopped creating!!!

Isaac's first birthday is coming up in two week! Oh my, where did the last year go?!? So, I've been busy at work getting some stuff ready for his party. Here's one thing, and the other will follow later on!

I saw this banner, made by Sarah at CREATE. I loved it! And here's how mine turned out. Here are some differences. First, I used all solid fabrics as opposed to patterned. I'm super bad at coordinating patterns, mostly b/c all my eyes see are polka dots :) And Luke said he would rather have it in solids. Second, instead of buying iron on letters (stay at home mom budget, you know) I used what I had at home and made my own letters (I know, crazy) then hot glued them on. Very tedious but worth it in the end! Third, instead of using ribbon to connect all the flags, I used extra wide double fold bias tape. This made it so easy to just stink them in the fold and sew them in.

I'm so excited to hang it on his birthday. My favorite part is that we'll be able to use it for all our
kids. Stay tuned for another birthday treat that will also be reusable in our family!!!

Holidays Fit for the King 2009

2009-11-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

It was awesome this year. The speaker concentrated on Simple Christmas. She used the verse Proverbs 17:1 that says, "Better is a dry crust with peace, than a house full of feasting with strife". What a great verse to remember not only for the holidays but for everyday living. God brought this verse to my heart months ago and it's what Luke and I strive for daily in our home and family.

This year I decorated a Christmas Tree themed table. I used this tutorial to make the little trees and felt to make the tree utensil holders. The only thing I added to the little trees were cotton balls in between to give them height. Oh, and instead of sewing them all, I just used a hot glue gun. It was a lot faster!I had a lot of fun making it and preparing it!

Here's a slide show of all the other tables that were decorated! They were all so beautiful!

For Baby Bunge

2009-10-25T15:03:00.000-07:00

One of my old co-workers is having a baby in a few weeks, or days really, and I went to her shower yesterday! Here's what I made for the baby!Paci clips, burp cloths, a bib, shoes, a taggie blanket and some pee pee tee pees. I loved being able to make them for her. And it's the first time I've gotten the sewing machine out since moving, and for that, I'm grateful for!

Fall

2009-10-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

Here's a plaque I made for fall. Guess what it is? It's all foam board. Well, and scrapbook paper. I cut out the letters with a sharp exacto knife as well as the backing. I painted it all brown mostly so the sides wouldn't be brown. I Mod Podged the scrapbook paper and finished it with more Mod Podge. Total cost....$2. Can't beat that. The only thing is, I can't find a way to hang it outside. The first floor outside is brick and I don't know how to anchor it out there. Any ideas?