Too Many Good Things

Better This Way

2010-05-19T22:47:00.000-05:00

I am sorry it has seemed like I have dropped off the face of the planet but some things had to take priority right now. I know we have all had those times, right. I really have been pooped from the end of the year activities at work and I will not be as lax this summer as I thought I would be.

Therefore, I have decided that the quickest and most efficient way to share what I find on this here Internet is to begin to post to facebook primarily. I hope you guys don't mind. It is something I am trying and if you don't like it just let me know. I want to know how you get your information best so please take a moment to let me know. It would be a huge help.

Free and Frugal Outtings

2010-03-06T23:51:00.000-06:00

Here is a fun post I found over at Multiples and more blog. I'm sure it is all the nice weather we have been having that makes me want to get out and do fun stuff.

The idea of outings with your multiples may sound daunting if yours are still in diapers, but as you reach preschool and elementary school age you'll be looking for cultural and other events for family entertainment. The cost can also be daunting, so ask moms of older children and watch your local newspaper for low-cost entertainment options for your family of multiples. Here's what's working for our family:

Arts & Crafts: If you have a Lakeshore Learning Store in your area, they offer FREE art projects every Saturday for ages 3 and up. Michael's Arts & Crafts also offer projects every Saturday; some have a small charge for materials, but many are FREE.
Building Clinics: Both Home Depot and Lowe's offer FREE Saturday workshops for kids 6 and up. Each session, they build a project with wood and tools; kids also receive an apron and goggles. My son loves these programs!
Circus: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus offers a FREE ticket to anyone under 1 year of age; while you have to request the ticket in your babies' first year of life, it can be redeemed anytime. Hold onto it until they're older, and you'll enjoy it more.
Movie Theatres: Starting in May and June, many of the national chains offer FREE summer movie programs. I tried this out last summer, thinking it was okay if my 3-year-old twins couldn't make it through, since it was free, but they did great.
Museums: Find museums in your area that offer FREE days, like these museums in the Target Events & Museums Program. For museums that charge admission, look for Family Membership packages that benefit larger families (sometimes the family size is 6), and be sure to visit enough times during the year to make it worth the cost.
Public Library: We've enjoyed magic shows, puppet shows, concerts, and more through our local library, all for FREE.

Theme Parks: If you're a military family, you're eligible for FREE admission at the Anheuser-Busch Parks (Sea World, Sesame Place, Busch Gardens) and special discounted tickets at DisneyWorld. If you're not a military family, one way to get discounted tickets is through a group rate. I bought 20 tickets to Sesame Place one summer (they throw an extra in for FREE), and sold them to two other families in my MOMS Club. When you have a family with multiples, getting to 20 isn't that hard!

One of the ways I've made outings easier with my three (twins + big brother) is to bring along another adult or even a parent and child. That way, we have as many hands as their are kids, for crossing streets or getting through crowds, and you have an adult to chat with. Remember to pack your own snacks, drinks, and even lunch if you're doing day outings with your family; this can save you a lot of money over eating out at museums, zoos, etc.
What kinds of low-cost outings have you done with your multiples? What other tips can you share for making them more manageable?

For more frugal fun and money-saving ideas, come over to Moneywise Moms. Have a great weekend!

Hello Neighbor, What Do You Say? It's Going To Be A Happy Day!

2010-03-06T03:23:00.001-06:00

Hey friends, this one is a free tag and quick how to for giving your neighbors a little gift. We know our immediate neighbors pretty well but a resolution for the year is to get to know all the neighbors on our block so here's fun little tag and idea to do just that. You really don't need some snazzy tag to go out and just talk to your neighbors. I am well aware of this but if you are going to make the effort to go over you might as well make them something yummy to let them know you're just glad they're there. Anyway here's the sweet little stuff from joy ever after blog. Enjoy.

love your neighbor…

…by giving them muffins!
//UPDATE The muffin boxes were purchased from The Container Store. Thanks! //
Last weekend I put together this little project and delivered it to my neighbors. These muffins are my absolute favorite, lemon & blueberries. I use any excuse to make them whenever possible.

For anyone interested in making a little treat for your neighbor, I am including a download of the cards I made. Nothing is more fun than giving a bribe to get on your neighbor's good side.

To get the downloads click here please and scroll tot he bottom and click on this picture.

Stencil With Freezer Paper

2010-03-05T06:52:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking of fun ways to use my cricut machine and one way is as a stencil. Seems easy enough right? Well here is something much less expensive than vinal paper which runs around $7.99 in craft stores. So I will be trying this bad boy out soon.

Stencil With Freezer PaperOne of the projects at this Friday's Chicago Craft Social will be freezer paper stenciling. I'm helping lead this table, so I needed to give it a test drive and make up some samples. You know how a project usually has four tedious steps you tolerate and one step that's super fun? I think this is one of the few where all of the steps are fun. Or maybe that's just me. I'm now in the grips of stencil mania. I'm stenciling everything.

To stencil your own stuff:
Buy a roll of freezer paper (approx. $3.99) or beg a piece from the guy in the meat department at your grocery store. Draw your design on it and cut it out with an X-acto knife. Then iron the paper, shiny side down, onto the fabric you're going to stencil. Iron another sheet to the back of the fabric to keep the paint from soaking through. You can use the iron setting that corresponds to the fabric you're stenciling.

With a foam brush, stenciling brush, kitchen sponge, or other paint brush, apply fabric paint to the cut-away areas. I used Jacquard brand textile paint from the local art store.

Let the paint dry (use a hairdryer if you're the impatient type, like me.) Peel the freezer paper off. Set the paint by following the directions on the jar — usually ironing will set it. Ta da.

All Things Family

2010-03-03T07:02:00.001-06:00

I read quite the post and thought I would share. It only took me about 12 hours to look at all these fun blogs linked to this one. Enter at your own risk!

Welcome to the February 23, 2010 edition of the All Things Family blog carnival. This week, we focused on frugal and money-saving ideas. If you have an article that you would like to submit for a future edition, please check out the All Things Family Blog Carnival.

Frugal Ideas for Parents:

Jessica Hill, one of my favorite dollar store crafters, presents mad in crafts: Make crayons with dollar store molds posted at mad in crafts, a good use for those cute novelty molds they always have at the dollar store.
Here’s a fun and frugal idea! Abigail Bailey presents Make children’s play furniture from milk cartons posted at abigailscraftshowto.com

Shannon presents Low Cost Party Planning Solutions posted at Partyelf, saying, “Here are some low cost solutions to planning a great birthday party for your child,” and provides ideas for Personalized Party Favors on a Budget posted at Partyelf, saying, “Getting personalized party favors for your child’s birthday party does not have to cost a fortune. Here are some low cost ideas starting around $1.”
Speaking of parties, Char Polanosky sent us ideas for 5 Ways to Save Money on Kids Party Decorations posted at Celebrate It, saying, “Creative ways to stretch your birthday party budget!”
Char Polanosky presents Making Kids Lunch Fun with Bento Box Lunches posted at Raising A Healthy Family, saying, “Save money by packing your kids lunches in fun bento style containers.”
Linette G. presents some super cute cupcakes How To Train Your Dragon~Viking Hat Cupcakes posted at The Kid’s Birthday Fun Review, saying, “These cupcakes are quick and easy, perfect to make just for fun or for a How to Train Your Dragon Party.”

Family Potluck:

Mariana Ashley presents 50 Incredible Ikea Hacks for College Kids posted at AccreditedOnlineColleges.org .
Pamela Jorrick presents Personality posted at Blah, Blah, Blog, a discussion of personality types and how they apply to her.
Gina @ MoneywiseMoms presents Guest Post: Retirement Savings for Stay-at-Home-Moms posted at Moneywise Moms

Karen Eisenbraun presents Plant A Garden For Healthier Children posted at Healthy Theory.
Fred Lee presents Your Public Library: Better than Disneyland posted at Parenting Squad

Sandra Lopez presents 80 Awesome Ideas for All Your Old or Unwanted Books posted at Online Colleges.net

Dana presents An encounter with owls posted at Roscommon Acres, a blog about a nature walk with her children and what they found.
That concludes this edition.

Taffy........That YOU Made. Oh yes you can!

2010-03-02T06:51:00.013-06:00

OK. Don't think me crazy and just read the post. It's super cute and looks relatively easy to do so read on before you throw it out the window! I would try this with my kids only I think, not my preschoolers from school. It would be like a bad sesame street episode. Read on! I think I'll make this for my sister. She adores taffy and she would be oober impressed by the home made factor. These would be great too as a favor at a birthday party.

Skip to My Lou Blog
Welcome to our Sweat Sweet Shoppe! If you are alarmed by red dye, excessive amounts of sugar and under age workers turn away now!

If not, stick around and see how we made loads of homemade taffy!

Here's our recipe

Homemade Taffy

2 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup light corn syrup
1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons butter (plus lots extra to butter hands)
1 teaspoon salt
1 - .21oz (6g) package unsweetened, fruit-flavored drink mix (like Kool-Aid) (we used cherry)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Butter large jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with sides.
In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add corn syrup, water, butter and salt and stir well until butter is melted. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stop stirring. Cook mixture until candy thermometer read 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). This takes some time to get it to 250 degrees. Once it approaches 250 degrees watch very closely because it cooks quickly at the end. Immediately remove from heat. Carefully stir in vanilla and drink mix. Stir well. We should have stirred ours more-- notice some bits of drink mix (dark spots) on our taffy. Pour mixture onto buttered baking pan. Allow to cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes.

Directions:

Once the taffy has cooled enough to handle, butter hands and begin pulling. (It starts kind of translucent)

Then pull...and pull...butter hands again...pull...

and stretch...pull...more hand buttering...pull...

It will become more opaque and lighten in color depending on the attention span of your workers! This takes about 10-15 minutes of pulling.

Pull into long ropes and cut with buttered scissors.

and cut!

Wrap pieces of taffy in pieces of waxed paper

and give it a good twist on each end.

Finished!

Sweet!!

Wall Art Display

2010-03-01T06:35:00.023-06:00

As the thought of an upcoming foster child continues to cloud my mind I was thinking of the ways I could encourage and foster lots of self esteem for the little person God brings us. Displaying and showing we are proud of this little person I know will be so important so here's a little post from How Does She blog. She has some great tips for displaying artwork and I'm sure there will be lots of it around our house!

How Does She display kid’s art? I knew I could find a few ideas, I had no idea I would find this many!!! I am excited to present all these awesome ideas – I am so inspired to get my kids to make more art, just so I can display it!

#1 Collage It

This is Alison’s idea to take lots of art, shrink it on the computer and put it into one collage. Child’s art 18 into 2!

#2 Group together on the wall

I love this idea because it is so easy to update whenever you want and it looks GREAT!

The Style Files shares this picture. I love all the colors against the white wall. You can get these curtain holders at Ikea, not online, unfortunately, but if you live by one – lucky you!

The Land of Nod

Martha Stewart

The Present Finder

Raising Olives

Cookiemag suggests taking pictures of the art and grouping the pictures together into a display on a cork board

#3 Treat it as art

Frame itLil Davinci art cabinet

This frame allows you to easily switch pictures and even store some behind the most recent art being displayed

Blissfully Domestic has a great tutorial on displaying framed art.

Turn it into art on Canvas!!! This is one of my favorite ideas – pretty much anything on canvas just looks classy.

mykidsartoncanvas has the idea above on their website, you can order from them

OR
get it for free at Canvas People – click here!

Turn it into custom wall paper art, a laptop skin, or a removable sticky picture at SticViews - You can still get one free – see this post to find out how!

Turn doodles into a real work of art - Lizette from Fine Doodles does some amazing work with your kid’s doodles – you gotta check out her website!

#3 Take it with you and show it off!

Analiese will turn it into a clay pendant for you

or Totally out of Hand will turn it into silver or gold jewelry!

Snap Totes will turn images into bags or pillows – picture your kid’s art on the bag above.

Little Birdie Secrets has a tutorial on how to turn you child’s drawing

into a stuffed toy

I made one for my son and he thinks it is the coolest thing!

Other ideas I found but don’t have pictures for are:

shrink and mod podge onto coasters

Use clipboards as frames – easy to change out

hang them all over your garage walls

use them for wrapping paper

display on picture ledges

upload them to a book printing company and have a nice book of art

laminate them and use as placemats

turn them into a calendar – click here to see how to get a FREE ONE

cover your coffee table w glass and slide drawings underneath

use a plastic tablecloth over your dinner table and slide drawings underneath

have them made into postage stamps

cut up and use as gift tags

Look What I Can Do........Shhhhh....... You Can Do It Too!

2010-02-28T01:59:00.011-06:00

Many of my dear friends who I have let into my craft room know I'm an organizing junkie. I just feel better when I know where something is and I'm not wasting time trying to find it. Enter ribbon. I have tried to organize ribbon in so, so, so many different ways and always come up short ........dum dum dum. Until NOW! Check out this super easy way to make a ribbon organizer and moreover easy to take the spools on and off. Why didn't I think of that? I think I will paitn mine whit to go with the white theme going on in my craft room.

DIY Ribbon Organizer

from giverslog.com by AmberLee

It seems such a shame for something as pretty as ribbon to be shut up in a closet, wouldn’t you agree? I have this fantasy of storing all my wrapping in plain sight, as a sort of functional art, and this super simple project has me one step closer.

look at this pretty ribbon, all it asks is to be set out and appreciated

I’d call this a tutorial, but really, it seems too simple to be a tutorial. It’s just a trip to a couple of stores I’m guessing you already visit. A few minutes later, you’ll be set with a place to store every spool of ribbon or twine in your closet. Should we get going then?
Start with a trip to the thrift store.

Have you ever noticed many candlesticks have a hole that goes all the way through? Do a little searching and I’m sure you’ll find several. On my last trip I picked up five. They are ripe for the picking, my friends. If you don’t like your color options, pick up a spray can of Krylon at the hardware store and do a quick paint job when you get home.

Often you’ll need to unscrew something. It wouldn’t hurt to have a Philips and flathead with you when you go.

The next stop is the craft store. Pick out a wooden dowel that makes a snug fit. Mine was pretty snug. The wood was soft enough that I just screwed it right into the base. If your dowel is a little thin, you have options. Pick up a wooden disk while you’re at the craft store. Drill a hole so you can use the wooden disk as your base, then plant the dowel in the hole (again, make sure it’s a snug fit) and slide the candlestick right over. You also have the choice of picking up one of these from the hardware store, they’re called allthreads and work great for this project if you prefer them to a dowel.

That’s it. Once you find a dowel or rod that fits, there’s nothing left to do but stack the candlestick back together, and display in your studio, office, or right on your mantle.

2010-02-27T00:37:00.001-06:00

Pottery Barn hack job and back to crafts.....for now. I love you sweet pottery barn but you kill me with your pries so I must, and I do mean MUST make it on my own. Love ---me. Tear. I know you love PB too so here's how to do a PB lamp shabby chic cottage style.

It's no surprise that I'm hacking Pottery Barn. We went in a few days ago, and I found some things I love. One was this lamp. $100? Uhh... no.

I also fell in love with this shade. $59? No, thank you very much.

But, you know me, I can always find a cheaper alternative!

I already had the shade, it used to be my dining room light, picked up at Goodwill for $2 back last summer. Yesterday, when I went thrifting with {Living With} Lindsay, she spotted the lamp for $7. She is genius!

Using my favorite cheap white spray paint (thanks to Mother Nature for letting the sun finally shine today), I gave the lamp acouple of realllllly good coats. Then I roughed it up with sand paper.

Madeline and I mixed up a little raw umber paint with some Ralph Lauren glaze. Mixing in some paint means that not every distressed finish in your house looks exactly the same. It gives it a little more depth and variation.

Wipe it off in circles, so that you don't have wiping marks left over.
Once finished distressing, set aside to let dry.

Next go make some tea. Or coffee. Either will work.
I used leftover tea bags from making today's batch of sweet tea.
{We go through a gallon a day!}

Once it's cooled, "paint" a couple of coats of tea onto the shade. If your shade is already the color you want, skip this step. Blot with paper towels to help absorb the excess. Set aside to dry - or blow dry it with a hair dryer (I'm impatient!). I did this while my spray paint was drying.

Just like with last week's curtains, translate your favorite phrase (mine is from a love note Mr. SCC wrote me years ago), and print it off, I used this font at 175 point.

Trim your words and tape them to the inside of the shade.

Put the shade on a lamp and painted it, just like the curtains.
I used a Paris postmark rubber stamp for the postmarks.

A $159 lamp for less than $10. I'm. In. Love.

Ice Cream Cone Cakes

2010-02-26T02:21:00.012-06:00

This is another secret blog I love. I get good ideas for activities for my class geared around children's literature. Instilling a love for learning and reading is soooooo very important and super fun might I add. I can't wait to get more ideas from her in the future!

Ice Cream Cones w/o the Mess!

from Little Page Turners by Christianne @ Little Page Turners

I had E's Valentines Day party today, and it was a huge success! The kids loved their pony bead heart necklaces. I was afraid the craft would be too hard for the kids, but they did great and there were enough moms there to help.

(Isn't my friend's little girl adorable? She and her twin sister are always so well-dressed. :)

The book My Heart is Like a Zoo was also a huge hit. Besides the book and the craft, I was responsible for dessert. At first I planned on keeping it simple with heart jello jigglers. My mom always made these for my class and I have fond memories of "finger jello".

But then my sister Beth @ The Stories of A to Z twittered (tweeted?) a picture of these Valentines Faux Ice Cream Cones and I fell in love. She hadn't blogged about it yet, so I googled for a recipe and found one at Easy Cake Ideas. It looked easy, so I decided to give it a try. Here's what I did:

The Meringue Tops (do this the night before if possible)

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (mine turned out fine without)
¾ cup granulated sugar
Piping bag or gallon size Ziploc bag

1. Preheat oven to 200° F

2. In a large bowl beat the egg whites until foamy. Make sure your bowl and mixer are very clean. Any grease will ruin the meringue.

3. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form.

4. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until the mixture holds stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted from the bowl.

5. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or tin foil (not wax paper).

6. Using a piping bag without a tip or a gallon size Ziploc with a 1” hole snipped in the corner, pipe a meringue 'ice cream' swirl in roughly the same diameter as the opening of the ice cream cone.

7. Top each with sprinkles.

8. Bake for 1 ½ hours or until the meringue is dried out and crisp to the touch.

9. Crack the oven door and leave to finish drying out overnight.

The Cake Cones

1. Using a cake mix, follow the directions up to pouring into the pans.

2. Line up the ice-cream cones on a cookie sheet.

3. Spoon the cake batter into the cones, filling only to the line where the neck of the cone widens out.

4. Bake at 350° F for about 22-25 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

5. Cool completely.

Assemble!

Spread icing (I used store-bought) on top of the cake cone and then top off with one of the meringue cookies.

Now they're all ready to pass out to a class of sweethearts! These ended up being a huge hit with E's classmates. They got a kick out of the pretend ice cream, and I heard two little boys exclaim "it's not messy!"

The whole process took most of the afternoon yesterday and much of the morning, so I don't plan on doing this again anytime soon, but I am proud with the way they turned out. If you want a simpler solution, my sister used marshmallows inside the cones instead of cake and added M&Ms to the meringue.

I read Amilia Badilia's First Valentine, Valentine Mice, and Mouse's First Valentine for my class on our special party day just in case you wanted to know.

Batch Cooking from Simple Bites

2010-02-24T23:58:00.004-06:00

Back to the Basics: Batch Cooking

from Simple Bites by Tsh

Photo by Martin Kingsley
Quite a few of you mentioned that you’d like the topic of freezer meals and batch cooking covered in our Back to the Basics series. I’m definitely not an expert in this field, but it’s something I want to incorporate more in my own home management, so this is a refresher post for me as well.
Cooking in advance has the serious advantage of saving time and money. You’ll waste less food (especially the perishables), and you’ll save money by doubling up your efforts on the spoils brought home from the store.
It’s also healthier, because you won’t need to buy convenience foods that are chock full of MSG, preservatives, sodium, and other unpronounceable chemicals.
There are a few methods of batch cooking, but essentially, it involves cooking a lot of food in advance. You can cook enough food to warrant freezing and stockpiling, and you can prepare scratch ingredients, helping you to cook without the fake ingredients found in so many store-bought items.
Here are a few tips for the different methods of cooking ahead of time.

Freezer Meals

Freezer meals are entire meals prepped in advance, and then frozen for later use. They can ether be completely cooked, so that all they need is thawing and reheating, or you can prepare most of the steps in advance, so that all that’s left is cooking the meal.

Advantages:

This is a great time saver. You can stockpile loads of meals for future use, such as when you’re expecting a newborn in your life. Or you can simply have a few meals on hand, so that when life is a bit busy, all you need to do is shop your freezer.

Disadvantage:

You need the space. If you want to do freezer meals hard-core, you might want to check your local Craigslist to find a used deep freezer for your garage. I have a simple second freezer in the kitchen (it’s the size of a compact fridge that’s popular in college dorms). It provides some extra space, but not a ton.

Helpful Tools:

Plenty of freezable dishes, such as those foil casserole dishes you can find in your grocery store. I prefer large resealable plastic bags because they take up less space. Vacuum sealers are great, too, though I don’t have one.

Good Freezer Meal Recipes

• Chicken Nuggets
• Fannie Farmer’s Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese
• Beef Stew
• Chicken Tetrazzini with Caramelized Onions (make the alfredo sauce from scratch – it’s very easy)
• End of Summer Vegetable & Fresh Herb Casserole
• One Skillet Lasagna
• Chicken Enchiladas
• Spinach Black Bean Lasagna
• Ground Beef and Tomato Manicotti
• Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
You can also search the freezable meals at My Recipes or the make ahead recipes at Whole Foods.

Once A Month Cooking

Some families cook all their meals for the month in one day. I haven’t personally done this, but I hear it works well when you plan in advance and you have extra hands to help.
You can create a two-week menu plan, then buy all your ingredients on one shopping day. Get your perishables and produce at the farmer’s market, and everything else at the grocery store.
Make sure you double all the amounts for each recipe, so that you have enough for the month. You could even quadruple the recipes and have plenty for lunch.
Then you clear an entire day early in the month, and cook, cook, cook. It’s a tough day, but then you’re done for the month! Freeze the meals, label and date them well, and all you have to do is thaw, reheat, and serve.

Cooking & Freezing Staples from Scratch

Photo by thebittenword.com

Even if you don’t like the idea of freezing entire meals in advance, you can still batch cook and freeze staple ingredients.
• Once or twice a month, roast a whole chicken, then cube the meat and store it in half cup or whole cup quantities in resealable bags. Label the quantity and date — you might think you’ll remember, but believe me, you won’t.
• Now, you’ve also got plenty of chicken broth to freeze. Also store this in whole cup quantities, and label it well.
• I also like to match batches of homemade cream of chicken soup, and freeze for recipes later. The stuff in boxes and cans are chock full of fake ingredients and sodium.
• Brown and drain ground beef the day you buy it at the market, and you can also store this by the cup for freezing. This way, you’ll also use less meat per meal, because it’ll be an ingredient instead of the main feature.
• I also like to throw dried pinto beans into the Crock Pot to make a simple side dish that will last us about two weeks. You can mash them into refried beans, too.
• We’ll get to canning later, which will cover lots of veggies and sauces. But you can also make basic marinara sauce, pizza sauce, and salsa in bulk, and freeze them for later. Jump on these things now, while tomatoes are abundant, fresh, in season, and cheap!
It can feel overwhelming if you try to jump on all these ideas at once, so just pick one or two, and gradually add more freezer meals to your agenda. For me, I’ll be freezing my chicken ingredients, ground beef, and a few meals for the next few months.

2010-02-23T07:48:00.006-06:00

I have been wanting to do one of these for a while now. I knew I should be able to make one for myself and found a cute tutorial done by what looks like a high school kid? Check out her pics behind her in her photos. They made me laugh. So here is her post and I warn you there are a LOT of pictures so it may seem a bit long but if you are good at scrolling -- no worries.

From craftster.com
Here's the goal:

Sorry about the mediocre tutorial, it’s my first try!

I've seen these all over for 30$+, so I tried to make my own!
I found out after making about 8 that you can buy premade “hat pads”, but uh, this is way more fun and original

you need...

-scissors
-black thread (color varies, depending on if you want it to blend in or not)
-needle
-small/medium feathers (i got mine fairly cheap from http://www.tonyhill.net/, but there are plenty of companies that sell them)
-backing fabric (leather seems to work best because it's sturdy)
optional - a thimble might help if you have sensitive fingers/a hard time pushing through the leather and feathers

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/showphoto.php?photo=177109&ppuser=140768
you want to cut a teardrop shape about 4 inches (or whatever size you want it to be...) that's even on both sides (fold it in half it helps)

Thread a *really* long needle. It’s a lot easier to not have to worry about running out of thread while doing this, and to not have to change thread. You should probably double the thread too, because it’s more supportive.

Pull out a big pile of feathers!

It’s easier to use ones like this that are fairly flat on the top

Lay a long, flat feather with the end facing the pointy side of the teardrop, and *important* curved down! You need the whole finished pad to curve towards your head, so you always have to face the feathers in a frown on the fabric.

Stitch right next to the base of the “stem” and over. Do this a few times around the stem in a few different spots. It also helps if you can sew one or two stitches actually into the base, but it can be hard to pierce.

It should look something like this. Keep in mind that the bottom will be covered up, so it doesn’t matter much if it looks messy

Lay two more feathers around the sides in a fanning out shape, and tack them down as well. (The same way you want the pad to be a frown lengthwise, you want it to be a little curved down widthwise as well, so try and find feathers that accommodate this)

Add three more feathers in a fan on top of this, lining the middle one up with the first feather you did, and covering the stitches. Tack them down too!

Keep adding more feathers in the fan layers

since I already made 4 or 5 already, I decided to change feathers and do a multicolored one, but normally you’d just keep layering until you reached the end, getting less and less feathers each “row” until you have just one with the “stem tip” matched up with the point of the teardrop

here’s what my finished one looked like

Once you do all that, you can attach it to a pin, clip, headband, or whatnot
I ran out of headbands, so I don’t have a tute of how to put it on the band! But I can put one up as soon as I get more headbands (if you do want to make one, I suggest fabric headbands for sure, I got mine from joyce leslie for really cheap)

Here’s some pictures of the headbands I’ve made though

And some clips

If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help!
Happy… feathering!?

**EDIT**
ok, so I finally got my stuff together, and took some pictures of gluing it to the headband, + a few new headbands I've made. For this, you need a hot glue gun, a few pins, a sharpie, and obviously, a headband (fabric works best)
hope this is what you needed!

line up your feather piece where you want it on the band

pin it down so it doesn't move too much

trace around the outside of your headband

pulling from the non pinned side, glue it down! Pull out the pin, and dab some on the other side as well

cut out another teardrop and glue it over the top so it's secure and so that your threads don't show

coool?

so, here's some more I've done recently. I bought some long feathers and tried experimenting w/ some layering, but there's one regular one too
excuse the disgusting faces on my part...

( think this kind of looks like a claw?)

Who Else Needs A Spa Day?

2010-02-22T06:09:00.019-06:00

Spa-inspired presents, including these handmade lip balms, can be created from basic kitchen ingredients and craft materials.

Getting Started: Essential OilsTo scent homemade bath and beauty items, you'll need essential oils, available at health-food shops and online.
There are dozens of scents on the market, but we've listed some of our favorites. You might also come across fragrance oils.
Unlike essential oils, which are extracts of plants and fruits, fragrance oils may be made with synthetic compounds. That said, either type of oil is suitable for these projects. Use scents alone or in combinations: If mixing scents, add the oil with the less-intense scent first, followed by the stronger kind, one drop at a time.

EucalyptusStrong intensity. A powerful, clear aroma that pairs nicely with lemon. Use sparingly.
GeraniumStrong intensity. A sweet floral scent that mixes well with peppermint or lemon.
Grapefruit, Lemon, or TangerineMedium intensity. Citrus oils can be used individually, but because they're so lively and adaptable, they lend themselves naturally to combinations.
PeppermintStrong intensity. Refreshing on its own but also a fine partner for many other oils. A little goes a long way.
RosemaryMedium to strong intensity. Herbal, woodsy aroma. Especially good with lemon.
Star AniseMedium intensity. Warm, almost wintry fragrance. Excellent with tangerine.

Carrier OilsTwo projects, the lip balm and the body scrub, call for a carrier oil. Chances are, you already have one of these oils in your kitchen. Their job is not to add scent but to create a smooth texture and also help distribute the essential oil.
Grapeseed OilLightweight, easily absorbed, and virtually odorless.
Olive OilA natural moisturizer. Use the lightest grades so that the scent wont mask that of the essential oil.
Sunflower OilOdorless and inexpensive.
Vitamin E OilHas a soft, light body. It can be expensive, so use it in small quantities in combination with another carrier oil.

Projects

Body ScrubGet the How-To
Web-Exclusive Clip-Art Labels:
Blank Body Scrub Labels 1
Blank Body Scrub Labels 2
Salt Scrub Labels 1
Salt Scrub Labels 2
Sugar Scrub Labels 1
Sugar Scrub Labels 2

Lip BalmsGet the How-To
Web-Exclusive Clip-Art Labels:
Small Rectangular Lip Balms 1
Small Rectangular Lip Balms 2
Small Round Lip Balms 1
Small Round Lip Balms 2
Large Rectangular Lip Balms 1
Large Rectangular Lip Balms 2
Large Rectangular Lip Balms Blank 1
Large Rectangular Lip Balms Blank 2
Large Round Lip Balms 1
Large Round Lip Balms 2
Lip Balm Tubes

Bath SnowballsGet the How-To

Bath FizziesGet the How-To

Got all the fun from Martha Stewart's Site.

Did Someone Say That Dirty Word......Organic?

2010-02-21T09:01:00.013-06:00

Believe it or not I am totally on the organic band wagon. But I am on there not for the 'cool factor' but because I have educated myself on some hazards I was frankly not aware of. Later in this article you will read where you can go poo free and natural face wash. I am currently doing both of those. And before you check out and think me a little too 'little house on the prairie' just know I was a skeptic before I was a believer and I really tried these out to be more frugal and they have worked really well for me and Mr. Phillips is on board as long as it's less expensive. I have not bought shampoo, conditioner, or face wash for over 3 months now and counting. So check it out and see if it workd for your family.

Beauty is More Than Skin Deep: Choosing Safer Personal Care Products

from Simple Organic by Nicole

A couple of years ago, I was still blindly slathering my body with products whose ingredients I could barely pronounce. When I learned the truth, that the FDA does not regulate the ingredients in beauty and personal care products, it rocked my world, and fueled the start of a personal revolution towards a more natural lifestyle.
Our skin, is after all the largest organ we have, so it’s a pretty good starting point for developing a healthier lifestyle. With a self-regulating industry, though, it can be difficult to know which products are actually safe. This is where the Skin Deep cosmetic safety database comes in.

About the Database

Built by the smart and caring Environmental Working Group, the Skin Deep cosmetic safety database is a place where you can search for any personal care product and see how it rates on the hazard scale, and learn about its ingredients.
It’s really simple. Zero is the safest and ten is the most hazardous score. Most products on the market are listed, and although it can be a bit tedious, you can actually list products that you don’t find, simply by copying information from the label onto a form on the website.
You can also search by category and see which products in that category have the safest ratings.

Ten Ways to Get Smart About Personal Care Products

1. Don’t trust the labels. I was most shocked when I started researching sunscreen, something that is supposed to protect our skin. Companies throw out words like “all natural,” or even “organic,” but don’t actually have to adhere to any standards for those claims. Instead of trusting trendy slogans and greenwashed labels, look for products that rate low on the database and have a low “data gap.”
2. Go straight to the ingredients. Since we can’t necessarily trust the labels or company claims, the best thing to do is educate ourselves on which ingredients are most toxic, such as parabens and pthalates. And at a glance, I look for products whose ingredients I can easily pronounce.
3. Research the products you have. This can be a very enlightening exercise. Take your favorite products to the database, and while you could be surprised what dangers are lurking within those bottle, maybe you’ve already been using something that’s actually quite safe.
4. Watch out for proprietary information. Possibly one of the more dangerous ingredients in these products, fragrance, is one that most labels only indicate very generally. Since it is considered “proprietary information,” the company doesn’t have to disclose exactly what that term refers to.
5. Be aware of hidden toxins. Some of the most dangerous compounds show up in laboratory tests but not on product labels. For example, 1,4 dioxane, a cancer-causing chemical, is formed when a common ingredient, sodium lauryl sulfate is converted to the supposedly more gentle sodium laureth sulfate. In addition, when we use multiple products, we are exposed to more and higher amounts of toxins like carcinogens.
6. Focus on those most susceptible. The younger a person is, the least they can fight against toxins, and the more concentrated these toxins will be in their little bodies. My favorite line of non-toxic products is called California Baby (and it’s even sold at Target!).
7. Pay now or pay later. If you’re afraid of the cost of starting over with safer products, consider that it’s probably worth the cost of a few really good products to avoid ingredients that could lead to costly medical procedures down the road. Also keep in mind that when we buy safer, quality products we are also voting with our dollars for better products.

8. Simplify. Instead of an entire bathroom full of products, I’ve realized that what I actually need and use regularly makes up a pretty simple arsenal. Love the feeling of thinning out your wardrobe and getting rid of unused items? Try the same techniques with your beauty products, clearing out products that are expired or rate high on Skin Deep. A simpler beauty routine takes less time and money to keep up as well.
9. Stick to companies who have signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics. These companies commit to discontinue the use of dangerous toxins and adhere to the EU Cosmetic Directive. They might still be in transition to being fully compliant, but at least they’ll be more trustworthy than those who refuse to sign.
10. Skip buying products all together, and make your own. Some of the best ways to take care of our bodies require only a trip to the pantry or the health foods store. Here are a few resources and ideas:

go ‘poo less {that is, shampoo}
wash your face naturally {with the oil-cleansing method}
use coconut oil or pure jojoba oil as a moisturizer
make your own lotions, bath scrubs, lip balms, and more
try a facial exfoliator with about a tablespoon of plain yogurt and a pinch of cornmeal flour

Another great resource is the book Not Just a Pretty Face, which details the history of Skin Deep and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, along with information of various toxins and studies. And be sure to check out the Skin Deep Safer Shopping Tips as well.
Have you found Skin Deep to be useful? How else do you avoid toxins in the beauty and personal care products your family uses?
Beauty is More Than Skin Deep: Choosing Safer Personal Care Products is a post from: Simple Organic

Just in Case

2010-02-20T10:43:00.009-06:00

One of my favorite new things to do now is make my own candle holders. I posted this before but just in case you didn't get it I have a second post here from how to be awesome blog. I don't really care for the zebra theme just cause I'm not into that but your creativity could run wild on that part.

DIY Candleholder

A few weeks ago when I was suffering from a broken heart, I threw myself into crafts instead of drinking; fancy that! I’m so grown up! So here is a pair of candleholders that I made:

First, I started with candlestick holders and cup-ish things I got at Dollar Tree.

I glued these together using E600 glue. (I hate this glue because it is smelly but it is nice for this because it doesn’t dry right away so you can move the cup around on the base if it’s not centered on your first placement).

I took some tissue paper that I had lying around and decoupaged it to the outside of the cup. Despite its modern flair because of the zebra print, I think it still works with my other non-modern decor because of the neutral colors.

Then I glued a piece of teal ribbon around the top and glued three maroonish buttons to the ribbon. The pictures don’t really do the color justice, I swear they don’t look as jettie-ish as they appear in the photo.

I placed tealights in both holders. The total cost for these candleholders was around $6–you can’t beat that and I don’t think they look cheap.
I was originally going to do this with scrapbook paper but was glad I had tissue paper on hand because the light really shines through on the tissue paper.

If You Didn't Get Enough

2010-02-19T10:36:00.002-06:00

So here is another one I thought I would show you guys and I'm convinced now I need to make these. I'm heading to the dollar tree first thing to see if they have any of these sweet trays for real!

Dollar Store Serving Tray Tutorial

Why am I so fascinated with the Dollar Store? It's truly amazing to me that everything in there is just a buck. I get a little mesmerized when I'm in there...

I picked up a couple metal pizza pans a few weeks ago, thinking that I could do something fun with them. As I was going through my kitchen cupboards the other day I discovered that I really don't have many serving trays and I thought -- why not turn one of those pizza platters into a serving tray? I was going to make a Valentine's one, but wanted to use it all year -- so made it match my kitchen.

I thought it would be cute to add some little feet to the tray so it sits up off of the counter. I have a box of old knobs from when I switched my knobs out in my kitchen. So I grabbed a few of those. But you could probably find some at a thrift store too. I also added a couple dainty little drawer pulls (from an old dresser redo) to use as handles.

Here's what I did:

I flipped the pizza pan over and measured where I wanted to put the feet. I measured the space between each foot as well as the distance diagonally across the sheet. They all ended up being 6 inches. Then I marked the spot with a black sharpie.

Then I picked out 4 different black and white papers to use for the projects. I cut 4 inch strips of paper. I had to cut the paper diagonally in my paper cutter so that the length would be long enough to cover the pizza pan and go over the sides.

Then I Mod Podged the paper onto the pan. I started at one side. I laid the first sheet of paper over the side of the pan to see where I needed to place it. I made a little mark with my sharpie on the edge of the paper. I trimmed the edges of the paper so that they mimicked the edges of the pan - -leaving about an inch longer than the edge of the pan. I made little cuts at the edges of the sheet so that when I flipped the edges under that they would lay flat.

Then I applied the mod podge. I put a layer on the pan itself and another layer on the back of the paper. Then I layed the sheet on the pan with the edge where the sharpie mark was. I smoothed it down using an old credit card. I used my fingers to smooth it down over the rim of the pan and around the side of the edge. (you need to put mod podge around the side to the back of the sheet). I continued pressing with my fingers over the edge of the pan and flipped the pan over to smooth down the edges on the underside.
Note: At this point, only put Mod Podge on the underside of the paper -- not the outside of the paper.
Then I applied the next strip of paper, doing the same thing.
Once all of the paper was applied and wrapped around to the back of the pan, I let it sit until the Mod Podge dried.
Once it was dried, I put a layer of Mod Podge on the top of the paper. I found that this cuts down on the bubbling.
Once that layer of Mod Podge was dried, I sprayed the sheet with polyurethane spray. This will make it so you can wipe down the platter. I put 3 layers of polyurethane spray on - letting each layer dry for about 15 minutes in between coats.
While the polyurethane was drying, I painted my old knobs black. I applied two coats and let them dry. Once the paint was dry, I applied 2 coats of polyurethane spray and let that dry.

Once the polyurethane was dry -- about an hour after the last coat, I flipped the pan over and applied the black knobs to the pan. I used Gorilla Glue and it is awesome stuff! It takes about 2 hours to dry so I let it dry overnight.
The next morning I applied a very small amount of the same Gorilla Glue to the handles on top of the tray and let those dry for a couple of hours. And I was done!

And, for a buck --- how could I go wrong??

Anytime Dessert Trays

2010-02-18T08:29:00.001-06:00

LOVE this idea from tatertots and jello. I can't wait to make a bunch of these for every holiday and season. Can you see why my mother says I overdo a good thing? Now if only I had a place to store all these things. Hmmmm.......

Valentine Project: $2 TIERED Dollar Store Tray

I had so much fun making my Dollar Store tray that I decided to make a tiered Valentine-ish one too. Although I like it so much I think I will use it all Spring and maybe Summer too! It's so bright and happy looking!

If you want to make one, here are the trays I used from the Dollar Tree:

I pretty much followed the steps I used making the first tray, which are found HERE. I cut the paper into strips , but I didn't want the top and bottom trays to be too matchy-matchy, so I mixed it up a little.

And I added feet just like I did to the first tray, although I painted them off-white instead of black.

I also used a little silver candlestick that I had laying around. I was going to paint the candlestick, but I like the shine it gives the tray so I left it silver.

Also -- I wrapped a pink striped ribbon around the underneath of the top tray where you can see the paper edges. I meant to take a picture of that, but forgot. I will try to take one tomorrow and update it.

I am excited to use it on Valentine's night to put my dessert on. So fun!

Robin's Eggs For Easter

2010-02-17T17:54:00.001-06:00

This is sooo cute. Check it out and super easy!!!

Morning, everyone! Your very own crazy crafter, Jess from Mad in Crafts, here.

Are you cheap? I am. I have a little panic attack anytime I see a price tag in the triple digits. Do you like pretty things? I do. When my house is clean and decorated, sometime I just sit and look around at it all. Partly because I know it will be many moons until it’s actually clean again. Anyway, because of my remarkable cheapness and love of pretties, you can imagine the internal torment that overtakes me when I visit the Pottery Barn website. ((shudder))
A few months back I wrote a couple of posts called A Dollar Barn Christmas where I took items I found at my local Dollar Tree and turned them into home decor that was inspired by all the goodies at Pottery Barn. I was browsing on the PB website a few weeks ago, and got that lovely crafter’s voice in my head. “I can make that. I could make that too!”
I am adding a series of posts on my blog, Mad in Crafts, with tutorials on how to make PB-ripped off Easter/ Spring decor for your home. The first post in the series showed how to create the elements for a fancy Easter centerpiece based off of two PB catalog items.

Today’s tutorial is redonkulously simple and would be a fun project to do with any bored, little ones you have moping around the house.

To make Robin’s Egg Vase Filler, you will need:

1 or 2 packs of 12 styrofoam easter eggs (Dollar Tree): $1 each
craft paint in robin’s egg blue: on hand
craft paint in brown or black: on hand
paintbrush: on hand

Total: $1

I mixed up a few craft paints until I got a color that I thought made a reasonably good robin’s egg blue color. Holding each egg by it’s handy little hanging loop, slop some paint all over each egg. Let dry. Even though one coat didn’t completely cover, it was good enough for government work.

After your eggies dry, yank the hanging loops out of the ends. You might end up taking a little bit of the paint and styrofoam with the loop. You can touch up the paint if you would like, but nobody is going to be looking THAT closely. Unless you have some really weird friends. Which I do.

Put the eggs in a cardboard box or on a well-covered surface. Things are about to get messy. Dip a bristled paintbrush or an old toothbrush in black or brown craft paint. If the paint is thick, you will probably need to thin it out, I found. Flick the paint off the brush and onto the eggs with your pointer finger. SPLAT! Kids will love this part. Keep splattering and rolling the eggs around until each egg has splatters all over it, like so:

Ta Dah! You just made a rip-off of PB’s Decorative Speckled Egg Vase Filler which is listed as $14 for 12 eggs. That’s right, friends, you just saved yourself $26 if you made a double-batch. Plop them in a pretty vase, bowl or apothecary jar and your home is looking more Spring-y already.

Come and check out the rest of my Dollar Barn series (with a special Ballard-Derived feature) this week on Mad in Crafts! And, not to beg, but comments totally make my day. :P

Not Just Valentine Napkin Rings

2010-02-17T08:25:00.001-06:00

This idea from tatertots and jello is genius!

Burlap Napkin Rings Tutorial {Dollar Store Project}

I have so many Valentine ideas I wanted to do -- but I'm running out of time! Here's one I made today. But, these napkin rings don't have to be just for Valentines Day - you can use them all year.

I bought the napkin rings at the Dollar Store. Yep, I have been wandering around in there again! Four napkin rings for a dollar -- pretty sweet deal. I had wanted to make this for awhile and thought I would go to home depot and get some sprinkler PVC pipe and cut it into sections to make the rings, but then I saw them at the the Dollar Tree. Saved me some time and effort!

If you want to make these, here is what I did.

Supplies:

Burlap -- eight inches wide by 13.5 inches long section to make 6 napkin rings

Hot glue gun and glue sticks (low temp is great or you might burn your fingers like I did)

Napkin rings (Dollar Tree)

Jewelry embellishments (I got mine from Michaels on sale -- 2 for $1.99 plus 30% off)

Ribbon ( I used pale pink organiza, but you can use any color you like)

Cut your burlap into strips 2 1/4 inches wide by 8 inches in length. Cut as many as napkin rings you want to make.
Put your ring in the middle of the burlap strip. Put a dot of hot glue in the center at the bottom of the ring. Hold the material tight around the outside of the ring and bring the edges together where the glue dot is. Press down tightly. If using hot glue, not low temp, let the glue sit for a few seconds before bringing the material around on top of it. It is very easy to burn your fingers. It is good to let the glue cool off just a bit first. You can also use the end of a Popsicle stick or end of a pencil to hold the glue while it is hot and then smooth it down with your fingers once it is almost cool.
Repeat step 2 all the way around the napkin ring until you are back at the beginning.
When you are back to the seam again, overlap the burlap so that it goes over the first seam and cut off any excess. Run a line of glue under the outside seam of the burlap and press down to close.
Repeat with all of the napkin rings.
Measure your ribbon. Cut the ribbon to the length of the circumference of the napkin ring.
Once your burlap is attached, put a dot of hot glue on the seam of the napkin ring. Put the edge of the ribbon on the hot glue, run the ribbon around the napkin ring until you reach the hot glue again. Press the end of the ribbon into the hot glue. If the glue has cooled, put another dot of hot glue on top of the other end and press down.
Once the ribbon is attached, attach your decorative jewelry pieces. Mine had loops on four sides that are used if you using them for jewelry. I cut the loops off using pliers. I used Gorilla Glue to attach the jewelry piece to the napkin ring. I put a small dot of glue at the top and bottom of the jewelry piece and put it on the top of the napkin ring - so the seam is opposite on the back. I held it down for a couple of minutes until it was tacky and then let it sit so the jewelry piece was facing up until it was completely dried - about 2 hours.

I'm excited to use them on Valentine's Day, but I think I will use them throughout the year too!

Olympic Sized Fun

2010-02-15T08:42:00.001-06:00

I have to admit I have not watched one stitch of the olympics this year. I know, I know. They're important and I haven't exactly had the most free time in the world in the past few months minus a trip to Anniston, AL. So I'll catch the highlights at some point and until then at least you can have a little olympic fun yourself.
Go for the gold with these Olympic medal cookies!
By Cindy Hopper

Make your favorite cookies and gather some gold foil, patriotic ribbon and hot glue.

Wrap cookies in the gold foil.

Fasten with a drop of hot glue, making sure not to touch the cookie. Attach ribbon to back of wrapped cookie with hot glue.

Finish off back by gluing a circle of the gold foil on top of the ribbon. Kids might want to embellish the front with a picture of their favorite sport.

Get fired up with an Olympic torch!

Draw around the end of a toilet paper tube in the center of a small paper plate.

Pierce center of plate with scissors and cut slits to the edge all the way around the circle.

Cover toilet paper tube with gold foil and then glue plate to top of the tube by folding cuts into the center of the tube. (This takes a generous amount of glue stick)

Stuff red and orange tissue paper into the center of the tube.

Let the games begin!

I can make my own shirt!

2010-02-14T09:36:00.000-06:00

Love these cool shirts chek them out. I'm going to make a few for a friends baby. They will be so cute on onesie's! I think I'll make one too that says I heart Daniel. He needs to know he's awesome!

guest post: diy personalized retro kid shirts

When Kai, my three-year-old, was very little, I had a hobby of stenciling tees for him. But then #2 came along, and t-shirt making time was quickly replaced by napping-on-the-couch-if-I-had-the-chance time. But all the great freezer-paper tutorials floating around right now have inspired me to finally make Dax his own personalized shirt, and I thought I'd share my take on the process. So, to make your own retro personalized tee:

Step 1: Download the font 'Candice'

Step 2: Print out the name you'll be using for the design directly onto a piece of freezer paper trimmed to 8.5" x 11."

Step 3: Carefully cut out each letterform using a craft knife, saving the inside pieces of your letters (like the inside areas of my 'D' and 'a'). Take care to have clean cuts, resisting any urge to tear away any pieces that may be attached. Because a stencil with crisp lines = a crisp paint job on the shirt.

Step 4: Lay out the letters you just cut out onto your shirt. This is for placement purposes. So you know exactly where to lay down your stencil (second pic below). And I highly, highly recommend American Apparel tees. Here is a link to the ones I used, and link to baby onesies and lap tees.

Step 5: Remove the letter cutouts so that all you are left with is the stencil. Lightly run over the stencil with a hot iron. Add in those tiny inside pieces of your letters and iron again, making sure the inside edges of the stencil completely adhere to the shirt.

Step 6: Paint!

Now this is where my tutorial differs from the ones I've seen online. I'm only able to get my hands on the "cheap" fabric paint locally. And since I'm too impatient to order the good stuff, I settle on these for instant gratification.

Roll or brush on the ink, painting away from the edges of the stencil. You don't want to push any ink under the edges of your stencil, otherwise you won't have sharp edges. I find that I have to use a considerable amount of paint to get it really solid. Just add the paint gradually and make sure a piece of paper or cardstock is under that t-shirt to prevent any paint from soaking through.

If you have the patience, you may want to do a couple practice runs on a test fabric before you paint on your pretty shirt. Of course, this means cutting out more stencils because each stencil is a one-time-deal.

Step 7: When dry, slowly and carefully, peel off the stencil. Using tweezers, pull off the smaller stencil pieces. I've also done this part successfully while the paint was still wet. I actually got a cleaner line because this type of fabric paint tends to dry thickly, almost like a thin layer plastic. Just be careful not to smear the paint if you go the wet route.

Step 9: Set the paint by lightly ironing the backside.

My head was in the shirt stenciling game when I put together this tutorial, so I went ahead and made an age one for Dax. The font I used here is Rosewood (you'll have to purchase this one). Quite a bit of cutting involved, but I think it turned out pretty awesome. Even big brother Kai really liked "the shirt with the number on it."

And lastly, I wanted to add a download of one of my very first t-shirt stencils, bird on a branch. Hope you can find some fun applications for this! I plan to add another stencil download at my blog Ambrosia Girl next week, so make sure to stop by.

2010-02-14T02:04:00.002-06:00

Mmmmmm Hot chocolate on a stick!

From Giverslog Blog.

I kept this recipe as bare bones as possible in hopes you’d play with different flavors, molds, and sticks, sort of like an open source recipe. But when you do blog, would you link back to me here? (Like this and this kind review, thank you!) I will so appreciate it. It’s taken a few years of researching and practicing with chocolate (certainly not an unpleasant thing) and some days of a very messy kitchen (but a happy family) to provide you with this recipe and with good, solid advice on smooth, melty chocolate.

Oh how I love when the weather turns cold enough for hot chocolate. Something about a good cup of hot chocolate makes the world feel like a gentler place.
This idea is something I’ve been wanting to try for a couple winters now. I’m glad I finally took the time to puzzle it through and do a little taste testing, because it turned out to be so simple, and the results so delightful. Stir one of these sticks into a cup of steaming milk or cream and in two minutes you will have transformed it into a cup of rich hot chocolate, the blessed stuff. I can’t help feel that the act of stirring adds to the experience, soothing you over while building up the anticipation for that first sip.

First things first: what chocolate to buy (see a whole post dedicated to this here)
The trick to making the best hot chocolate on a stick is using good, serious chocolate that melts easily. A chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa butter will do that. More cocoa butter means quicker melting. A bag of every-day chocolate chips won’t melt as fast. You can also find fake chocolate (like a bag of Wilton’s candy melts), which uses vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter. It will melt well, but the resulting cup of hot chocolate won’t be as transcendent. And we’re going for transcendent here. The candy melts are great for coating the outside if you like, because they stay pretty and shiny even if you don’t melt them just right.
If you really want to go gourmet, use couverture (made for dipping truffles, which has up to 39% cocoa butter, such as this), and don’t just melt your chocolate, temper it. But any pure chocolate will do. Try a bag of real-chocolate wafers made for a chocolate fountain or for fondu or a good baking chocolate bar (make sure it’s sweetened, not unsweetened). You can often go to a grocery store and find pieces of giant slabs, which is what confectioners use. Following are some good brands: Callebaut (which is what I buy at the Winco bulk section), Ghirardelli, Dagoba, Michel Cluizel, El Rey, Valrhona, Scharffen Berger, Lindt, and Guittard.

Word of warning: no water!
There is one thing you need to know before working with chocolate if you don’t already: never let water or alcohol touch it. Not a drop. You can be stirring a potful of smooth, decadent melted chocolate, then get one drop of water in it and the whole thing will get grainy and seize up. It’s a sad experience. (If this happens to you, try Tiffany’s tip below. Or use the chocolate for a recipe like brownies or ganache that uses chocolate and liquids).
So then, if you’re planning to introduce vanilla, use a vanilla bean or vanilla paste, not vanilla extract. If you want to add food coloring, use a gel or powdered form, not the liquid stuff.

Hot Chocolate on a Stick
Yield: 10 cubes of hot chocolate (ice-cube-tray size)
(use 1 oz. hot chocolate on a stick per every 1 cup milk or cream)
Equipment:
Ziplock bags or piping bags
A double boiler or pan with a glass bowl that can sit over the simmering water
Some kind of chocolate mold, ice trays work great
Stir sticks or a bag of wooden craft sticks like I used (like these, available at any craft store)
Ingredients:
8 oz. chocolate (see note above), bittersweet, semisweet, milk, and white chocolate all work
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
6 cups milk and 2 cups heavy cream if you plan to enjoy these right away
Method
(read a whole post about melting chocolate, including how to melt in the microwave, here)

If your chocolate is in a block, chop it into even-sized meltable pieces. Simmer a couple inches of water in a pan, then turn down the heat so the water is below a simmer. I like to remove the pan from the heat, but if you keep it on, keep that water below a simmer. Place glass or stainless steel bowl over the top to make a double boiler. If the bowl touches the water it’s alright, as long as your water is mildly warm, not hot. Dump chocolate into the clean, dry bowl and stir as the chocolate melts. (If you are patient and let those chunks melt slowly, keeping them from getting over 90 degrees F or 88 degrees F for milk and white chocolate, the chocolate will stay “in temper” and will still be nice and pretty when it cools.)
Once the chocolate is 2/3 melted, with just some pieces of the chocolate unmelted, remove the bowl from the pan, dry the bottom with a towel and continue stirring until chocolate is fully melted. This is just one more step to keep the chocolate from getting too hot.
Add cocoa, sugar, and salt and continue to stir until combined. The chocolate will be thicker, as thick as frosting, but stir on. If it looks and feels grainy it’s possible you’ve accidentally gotten a drop of water in the mixture. If it has gotten water in it and has seized up, it will still taste alright, it just won’t be as pretty or smooth or melt quite as fast.
Scoop chocolate into a ziplock bag and clip off the corner.
Pipe the chocolate into your chocolate mold, tapping the mold on the counter to make sure all the chocolate settles into the mold. Add a stir stick and you’re done. The stir stick should stay upright without any trouble. If the chocolate bursts through the bag in places you don’t want it to, just put the whole thing in another bag. If the chocolate starts to get too thick to squeeze, just put the whole thing in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds or so at half power.
Let the chocolate cool either at room temperature or in the fridge if you’re in a hurry. I find the chocolate pops out of the mold nicely if it’s been in the fridge. It’s okay to cool chocolate in the fridge, just don’t store it there, because chocolate soaks up the odors of other foods pretty quickly.
If you don’t like the look of the chocolate once it is removed from the mold, you can dip the cubes into a new batch of plain melted chocolate for a shinier finish (again, try to keep chocolate from heating over 90 degrees, or use candy melts, which don’t need to be in temper, they will stay shiny and pretty even if you go above 90 degrees). This also lets you add sprinkles or crushed candy or just lets you dip in fun patterns. I like dipping at an angle into a different color of chocolate.
In order to enjoy these, heat up any combo of milk, water, half and half, or cream. I like 6 cups milk with 2 cups heavy cream. One ounce of chocolate on a stick should be melted into one cup milk or cream. So a standard ice cube-tray block, which is 3/4 an ounce, should be melted into a mug with 3/4 cup milk or cream in it.

Troubleshooting: A few of you have had trouble with your chocolate seizing. Tiffany provided this great note to help out (thanks, Tiffany!), “if the chocolate begins to seize (since for some reason, both of my batches seized, I’m thinking it’s the humidity in the air where I am) you do not have to throw it out. Just put the bowl back over the hot water and add a little bit of vegetable oil (I used somewhere between a tsp and a tbsp) after stirring over a little heat, the chocolate will get smooth again. Also good to note, chocolate can seize if you add any cold ingredients.”
How to store it: Dark chocolate will keep in an airtight container for up to a year, milk and white chocolate for several months. Remember, don’t keep it in the fridge because it is really good at absorbing odors.

Variations: Try adding a pinch of cardamom, anise, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, malted milk powder, or cayenne pepper, depending on your mood. We tried adding a little extra punch by lining the outside with red hots. Very fun. You can also leave out the cocoa and sugar all together and replace it with 8 servings of your favorite packaged hot cocoa. Have you ever had so much fun? I love playing with chocolate.

As you can see, we played around with a few different molds, like this water bottle ice cube mold from IKEA. The classic ice cube mold was my favorite though. It works best for submersing the entire block of meltable chocolate in a standard mug.
UPDATE: Love Prince Pi’s suggestion of molding these in shot glasses. Also love how the Kitchn (yea!! they tried my recipe!!) made do with a single pan. TinaMarie also made the great suggestion of using small Dixie cups. And finally, check out this beautiful version Sprinkebakes made using a chocolate transfer sheet and birch spoons. You will love it.

This was fun too. My son thought the resulting blocks looked like the shape of strawberries.

I Won't Call You Procrastinators......I'll Call You Prompt Challenged

2010-02-13T21:16:00.001-06:00

From Skip to My Lou.
One again the web is overflowing with free Valentine printables. If you are in need of some last minute Valentines that can be printed right at home check these out!

Jeanne Winter's printable Udaman Candy Bar Wrappers are perfect for your man!

Little Miso shares her lovely card.

Rubber Punkin has these Valentines with awesome graphics

These little cuties are from Style Crush

I am loving Secret Agent Josephine's cute animal Valentines.

Vintage Holiday Crafts have these free vintage Valentines. Visit the site and click on a picture to download a larger individual Valentine.

Hotcakes has some cute Valentines that can be colored.

Also check out her printable love coupons.

mmmcrafts shares these adorable would you be mine Valentines.

Zakka Life has these cool rockin' Valentine wrappers for suckers.

Cottage Industrialist shares her fun rocket Valentines.

and if you need some pretty gift tags Paper Glitter can fix you up with these
and these.
Or Living Locurto has these fun tags that fasten to the top of a sandwich bag. She also has matching Valentines.
I hope you liked these free Valentine printables!

Check out last year's round-up of free Valentines.

You might also be interested in making a Lollipop Lily Valentine, Butterfly Valentine or a Ladybug Valentine.

More ways to celebrate Valentine's Day can be found here.

I Can't Do It All....... But I can say Thank You.

2010-02-07T20:59:00.002-06:00

I love sweet little notes. Maybe it's something from my years when you wrote boys names on your notebook or didn't have to complete a 6-10 page paper but I just have to admit I love little note cards. I send them in many shapes and sizes but here is a fun roundup of Thank You cards for you to print out. And of course it's free! Enjoy.

From Cottage Industrialist

From Hey Susy

From Evie S
Self Mailing Note Card

From Real Simple Magazine
Fill-in-the-Blank Thank You Note

From Fisher Price cute notes for your child to color
If only everyone could "bee" so nice!

You make the world a sunnier place!

You've made my day!

From Glitz
Little Birdie Thank You Card

Martha has some printable Thoughtful Stickers that would be cute on note cards and envelopes
Thoughtful Stickers Download

From Snippet & Ink cards designed by Creature Comforts
Printable Thank You Cards

From Kind Over Matter a whole selection of cards

Site Feed

More Valentines - Treat Bags

2010-01-31T21:45:00.001-06:00

From one of my very favorite blogs, Twig & Thistle, comes these fabulous free printable Valentine treat bags and favor box.
Print the download on white paper sacks to make the most darling DIY Valentine Goody Bags.

These DIY Brownie Bags make the perfect packaging for heart shaped brownies.

And for the apple of your eye a little DIY Sweetie Pie box to hold an apple hand pie.
...such sweet goodies. Enjoy!

2010-01-30T00:20:00.008-06:00

Nothing V-dayish here but thought this one was simple, cute, and clean. Hope you can make one. I think I will put hearts on mine in stead of fags. Find it over at How About Orange blog.

Mini bunting birthday card

My latest quickie DIY project: a birthday card with a tiny bunting of miniature flags. If you want to try one, here's how to make it.

Fold a sheet of cardstock into thirds, accordian style. If you want a printed message on your card, run it through your printer before folding.

Cut out strips of colored paper and fold them in half lengthwise. (My strips were about 1" wide.) Cut the folded strips into tiny triangles; they should look like little hinges. Make a few strings of bunting by folding triangles over a cord and gluing both halves together.

With an X-acto knife, cut tiny slits in the folded edge of the cover of your card. Thread one end of each bunting cord through a slit and secure the cord end behind the cover with a piece of tape. Wrap the opposite end of each cord around the cover of the card and secure it in the back with more tape. Then place double stick tape around the edges and center of the back side of the cover and stick the cover to the adjacent panel, hiding the taped ends of your bunting. Round the corners of your card if you like, and you're done.

I NEVER Would Have Thought of This!

2010-01-28T08:32:00.001-06:00

So pretty and I'll probably add letters to this one too with my die cutter. It's going on the front door tomorrow though! From Skip to My Lou, of course.

I have a double front door and need two door decorations and wanted something inexpensive. When I saw this red burlap on sale this week at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a yard I decided the price was right. I realized for less than two dollars I could make two wreaths.

Supplies for 1 wreath

1 metal hanger
12" X width of burlap (my burlap was about 50" wide)
glue gun
a rotary cutter to make cutting the strips easier
dental floss

Instructions

Cut 3 - 4" X about 50" burlap strips. Sew these three pieces together, so you have one long strip. To gather the burlap, machine zig zag stitch over dental floss. I used red cinnamon flavored floss so it wouldn't show, even though it looks white in the picture. Pull the floss and gather the burlap.

Bend 1 wire hanger into a heart shape.

Adjust gathers to fit around frame, cutting off any extra that isn't needed. Hot glue to wire frame. I used clear fishing line to hang, but a pretty white bow would be nice.

If you want a no sew method, Craftaholics Anonymous gathered the burlap by threading it about every three inches or so right onto the wire Hanger.

Another Valentine's Day Classic

2010-01-27T08:29:00.001-06:00

Here's another one we probably made as kids but have not in a while. So here's the tutorial in case you forgot from Skip to My Lou. I'm thinking about adding letters to the mobile and using my cricut I received for Christmas -- thanks mom and dad!!!

Crayon shavings melted between wax paper and then cut into hearts make a beautiful display in windows. This is an oldie but goodie craft that we love. Here are ours made with lots of kid help! I can't think of anything more cheerful or happy hanging from a window.

We made lots of crayon shavings with a pencil sharpener.

Place shavings on a piece of wax paper.

Either place another piece of wax paper on top or fold over the edge to cover all of the shavings.

Iron on the lowest setting for about 1 second. You can go always go longer after checking to see if the shavings have melted. Be careful to not burn the wax paper. It is a good idea to do the ironing on a piece of newspaper. Some shavings could leak out of the sides and it does leave a residue underneath the wax paper. If you are worried about your iron, just place your wax paper between two sheets of newspaper or scrap paper.

I think it is easiest for kids to trace around cardboard so I took cereal boxes and cut out heart shapes to be used for patterns. This is where you get variety so let the kids draw the hearts.

Draw around your pattern.

Cut out, hole punch and tie on ribbon, thread or fishing line. Hang!

Martha has directions and a gorgeous display at her place.

Oooooooo Monograms!

2010-01-26T08:26:00.007-06:00

Ok, you have to love letters. I teach them in my class, we can't get enough of them and they are all over my house. I'm going to make one for my sisters I think and one for my house all Valentine's up and stuff. Have fun, I know I will! Found over at Dollar Store Crafts. I told you there would be more than just STML on here. Smile.

Here’s a simple and fun idea for making a custom monogram plaque that you can customize in infinite ways to go with your personal taste and decor. Rhoda at Southern Hospitality made these, inspired by a project she saw at Joys of Home (a blog that often has great dollar store decor ideas, by the way!). Choose your favorite scrapbook paper, paint color, and initial, and get creating. You can find wooden initials and plaques at the dollar store, or check the unfinished wood section of your local craft store for a wider selection. Oh, and this will probably only take fifteen minutes or less, and no special skills are needed. Wouldn’t it be a fun slumber party activity, or a great gift for a housewarming? [click here for Monogram Plaque Project] [inspired by] [via]

Project Estimate:

Wooden plaque, $1
Wooden letter, $1
Scrapbook paper, on hand or $.50
Paint (spray or acrylic), on hand
Sandpaper, on hand
Glue, on hand

Total: $2 and up

Good Old Glitter Hearts

2010-01-25T08:22:00.001-06:00

It's glllllllllllllllllllitter! My little people L-O-V-E glitter so I think we will make these during our valentine's day party this year. They're from you guessed it, Skip to My Lou. What, she has great stuff. More blogs to be featured - don't get your panties in a wad :0)!

I will say right up front ---- this little craft was messy. It kept small hands busy for quite awhile --but for a price! So if you don't LOVE glitter stop reading! You will like these hanging hearts better!

We took our empty food boxes and cut out hearts. The Cricut made quick work of the cutting, however scissors work great! For the Cricut we used a deep cut blade set to 5 with maximum pressure. This will vary with the box weight and how sharp the blade is. We cut one heart from the Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge at 5 inches. Use center cut so when it is finished it will go back to the center of the heart and you can cut another heart inside. We cut our next heart at 2 1/4 and then again at 2. This allows the heart inside to move when hanging. (Remove the 2 1/4 inch heart)

Sew through the hearts with sewing machine set on long stitch length. Leave plenty of thread at starting point for hanging.

Spread glue onto cardboard

Sprinkle with glitter. Allow to dry and repeat on back.
We did try to cut a 7 inch heart with two hearts inside (in background of third picture above). Because of our technique (excessive glue and glitter) the 7 inch heart would not hang straight.
Once my daughter was finished and the hearts were mostly dry, I placed them between parchment paper and sat a book on top for awhile to flatten them.

If you are looking for more ways to dress your house up for Valentine's Day try this Valentine doormat, make some fun painted soaps for your bathroom, decorate with these stain glass hearts or make an inexpensive heart wreath.

Bath Fizzies

2010-01-24T08:15:00.002-06:00

As I have two articles on this I thought I would post them both. Here they are. One from Skip to My Lou and one from Mom Advice. The first article I'll be shaping with a heart mold in stead of the round ornament and the second is an article for Christmas but put a different tag and ribbon on it and viola -- Valentine's day gift! Now to figure out what to do for my sisters.

We thought bath bombs would make the perfect Valentine's Day gift when packaged to look like a bomb along with a tag that says, "You're the 'bomb'!"

DIY Bath Bombs

Supplies:
2 Cups Baking Soda
1 Cup Citric Acid
4 teaspoons massage oil ( or 2 teaspoons essential oil and 2 teaspoons olive oil)
Spray bottle with water
mold (60 mm 2 part plastic ball)
This amount only made 5 bath bombs. If I was making more I would buy the citric acid online in bulk. The small bottle you see pictured (1/2 cup) was $2.50. I purchased it from my local health food store. You can buy citric acid online for $2.25 per pound. BrambleBerry is offering all Skip to my Lou readers 10% off citric acid, use LOU10 at checkout to receive your discount!

Mix baking soda and citric acid in large mixing bowl. Mix very well! You can use an electric mixer if you like.

Add in 4 teaspoons of scented massage oil (or other combination of skin safe essential oil for scent and another oil for moisturizing the skin). The scent is personal, so start with a teaspoon or so and add more until you are satisfied. Mix well.

This next step can be a bit tricky because you don't want your bath bomb to start fizzing. Start by adding a couple of fine mist sprays of water to your mixture and mix well.

You will continue spraying until the mixture will clump in your hand when squeezed. (I used 5-8 sprays, however this will depend greatly on your local climate)

Fill one half of your mold. Pack it tightly.

Fill the other half of the mold and place them together---don't snap together. I slightly overfilled each half. When I pushed the two halves together they became a ball.

Gently remove the ball from mold. If I had problems with the ball coming out easily I dumped the mixture back into my bowl, added a mist of water (carefully), mixed well and then tried again.

Cut out about a 10 inch circle of black tissue paper.

Wrap tissue up around your bath bomb and trim if necessary.

Place a silver pipe cleaner in the center and then wrap a shiny red pipe cleaner around the the tissue paper and silver pipe cleaner. Add a tag and you are finished! You might want to write instructions for using the bath bomb on the back of the tag.

The bath bomb worked great. It provided fizz, bubbles and fun for my daughter's bath.

Enjoy!
These were very simple bath bombs. If you are interesed in more recipes and detailed instructions, the internet is a great resource. Try Teach Soap for loads of bath and body recipes!

I took a picture of all of the ingredients needed so you can see exactly what they look like when you go to the store. Don’t you hate it when you can’t picture what you should be looking for?
The kosher salt is over in the baking aisle with the regular salt, the Epsom Salts should be over in the first aid supplies of your superstore or drugstore, and the glycerin will be behind the drugstore counter where you pick up your prescriptions (and can also be used for your giant bubbles in the summer).
Now head to your craft store and go into the aisle where the soap making and candle making supplies are. There you will find colorants to dye your bath salts (you need the package with red in it) and the essential oils needed (for this craft it will be the eucalyptus mint). The last thing you can buy is some peppermint striped ribbon or whatever is on sale and festive will totally do the job!
As for jars, I found those at Big Lots and you can get a dozen of them for $6.50 or check the canning supplies section of Walmart (our store was out). I hope that helps with your shopping list and helps with the visuals for what to look for!
You will need two big bowls for this and a giant spoon to mix with. Don’t you love crafts that don’t require a lot of equipment? Now, empty one bag of Epsom Salts into one bowl. Next add 3 cups of your kosher salt, and stir well. Then stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. Mix well.
In your second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts and add 3 cups of your kosher salt. Stir well. Next stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of your eucalyptus essential oil. To this bowl, you will add fifteen drops of your red colorant. This will give you a pale and pretty pink bowl of salts. Mix this side really well to incorporate the coloring throughout this batch.
Now grab a 1/2 cup measuring cup and start doing layers to create the peppermint candy look in the jar- a layer of white, a layer of pink, a layer of white, and then a layer of pink. I would recommend filling them on a cookie sheet to catch any runaway salts and to make clean-up a little bit easier. Once everything is filled, you should have 12 jars full and even a little leftover for yourself.
Now tie your gift up with a little festive ribbon and a beautiful gift tag instructing the recipient to put three tablespoons of salts in the bathtub to enjoy a relaxing holiday bath.
****************
Candy Cane Bath Salts

12 tall jelly (12-ounce) canning jars with lid and rings
2 bags of Epsom Salts, 4 pounds each (approximately 16 cups)
4 lb kosher salt (approximately 6 cups is needed, buy two boxes and cook with the rest)
1⁄2 teaspoon glycerin, divided
16 drops eucalyptus peppermint essential oil
15 drops red colorant
Empty one bag of Epsom Salts into large mixing bowl. Add 3 cups kosher salt, stir well. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon glycerin and eight drops of eucalyptus
essential oil. Mix well. In second large mixing bowl, empty one bag of Epsom Salts, and add 3 cups kosher salt. Stir well. Add 1/4 teaspoon glycerin, eight drops of eucalyptus essential oil, and red colorant. Stir until completely blended. Color should be even. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup and fill canning jars at an angle, layer salts in jars, alternating white and colored mixtures.

****************
Just to make your gifts a tad more festive and to ease the burden of making those gifts, we have included free gift tags to download and print for the holiday season!
Free & Beautiful Holiday Printable Gift Tags
Luckily for you, there will be just a tad too much of both of these bath mixtures to fit into the jars and you will be forced to partake of your efforts. Throw whatever is left in that food processor or bowl and put it into your bath. Now fix yourself a cup of vanilla chai tea, light a candle, and smuggle in a good book or magazine. Promptly, lock the door and pretend like you have no idea how that happened when everyone starts knocking. Enjoy a moment to yourself and relax, you deserve it!

Lovey Dovey Soap

2010-01-23T08:10:00.002-06:00

Here's another favorite from Skip to My Lou. I think I will make these for my mom this year with some homemade bath fizzies. Bath fizzies to come tomorrow.

Even the bathroom needs a little holiday cheer!

Paint Glycerin soap with acrylic paint. One side of the soap needs to be non-imprinted, so you have a nice area to paint on.

Melt paraffin in a double boiler situation. I used a metal measuring cup set in a pan of water. An old food can could also be used. Wax is highly flammable so it is best to melt it in water. DO NOT allow any of the water to get into the wax!

Brush a thin coat of melted wax over your painting. Do not paint the sides or bottom of your soap. The wax must be very hot to give a clear coat. It is probably best for an adult to do this step while wax is still at the stove so it remains very hot.

When you use your soap the wax will protect your paintings.

Gearing Up for the Big Love Day

2010-01-22T20:03:00.002-06:00

I have been thinking a lot about valentine's day this year. I love valentine's day even though it is a bit of a consumer game. Mr. P and I have taken a strong stance on not getting 'things' for v-day for one another buuuuuut as being a preschool teacher goes, I have to do some fun 'things' with the little people. Enter V-day projects. So many of these are from Skip to My Lou (how could you ever guess) but there are more from other places too.
Mr. P and I will be having a fun time doing something super fun for v-day which is a secret because it's HIS year to plan v-day! I can't wait. So enjoy the mat.

From Skip to My Lou posted Feb 9, 2007 --

It is really cold around here and they say snow is on the way. We thought our front door needed this.

To make this doormat you need a carpet sample , ours were free from our local store. Since we repeat this craft all year round he knows us! He didn't have the rectangle size (or texture free) we like so these square ones had to do. It is best to try to get the regular pile-not Berber, shag or textured carpet.
We made our own stamps by cutting shapes out of foam sheets and rubber cementing them to a bock of wood.

Each stamp needs two layers of foam, so be sure to cut two for each stamp you make. Once you have the foam shape glued to the wood, put something heavy and flat on top of your stamp while the glue dries. This keeps the foam from curling.

We paint (we use acrylic) the paint on the stamps with a foam brush. This is easier than dipping and keeps the area around the stamp clean---which is very important. Use a lot of paint.

This is probably the only time that rocking and jiggling your stamp is okay. You are trying to work the paint into the carpet. I suggest asking for one extra carpet sample and give a few practice runs to get the feel of the amount of paint, pressure and jiggling you need to do. Kids love to use both hands and press really hard (an important reason you want to keep the surrounding wood of the stamp paint free). An adult probably needs to give the stamp a final press --depending on the age of the child.

If your print comes off light, simply take your foam brush and work a bit more paint in those areas.

Once you are finished the stamps can be rinsed off with water. Allow them to dry completely before storing.
If you don't want to make your own stamps you can always use the large foam die-cut sponges found at craft stores. Make sure to dampen your sponge and then dip into paint. You will find an especially nice selection of these sponges around Halloween.
I have asked for 25 carpet samples at one time (give the carpet store some notice so they can collect them for you) so we could do this for the craft at a holiday party at school with 1st and 5th graders. It actually worked out beautifully. I was able to die-cut the shapes out of foam so I had plenty without me having to cut them all . I had parents each with their own stamp and color of paint and walk around the room allowing the children (who stayed at their desks) to stamp their carpets. The parents would paint the stamp each time. We set the carpets out in the hallway to dry. We did this at the very beginning of the party so they had time to dry before heading home (on the buses -oh my I am sure I was popular with those drivers that day!).

Stickers!!!!!!

2010-01-10T22:25:00.001-06:00

Who doesn't love stickers. Here is a sweet site I found with fun stickers.

Decorate your Calendar with Event Stickers

Published 12.31.2009 | Permanent Link | Comments (5)

By Cindy Hopper

To get your New Year started off right Alpha Mom has a free little gift for you. We hope you will enjoy these stickers to help you and your children dress up your 2010 calendars!

Calendar Sticker Download
Simply download and print on 1-up (non cut) sticker paper. This sticker paper can be purchased by the sheet at a copy shop. Cut out and place on your calendar. No worries if you can't find the sticker paper --- a glue stick will work. Keep the stickers handy by stapling in the back of your calendar!

Everyone here at Alpha Mom wishes you a very Happy New Year!

For Mommies of Little People

2010-01-09T08:14:00.008-06:00

Shopping Cart Seatbelt -- TUTORIAL

This one is from Obsessively Stitching blog.

Got a kid who refuses to stay sitting down in shopping carts? My sister's little boy lasts about 15 seconds before he's standing -- even WITH the cart's built-in seatbelt on! And then there are the stores whose carts are notorious for missing seatbelts....

Well, I've got the solution, and all you need is one (or two, depending on the size of the child) dollar store canvas D-ring belt!

**PLEASE NOTE: Even with a seatbelt on, you should never, EVER leave your child unattended in a shopping cart. Always stay within arm's reach!!**

STEP ONE: Cut off a section of the belt on the non-buckle end. (To fit my 9-month-old daughter, I cut a 16" section of belt. You may need to adjust this measurement to fit your child.)

STEP TWO: On the FINISHED end of the piece you cut off (not the piece with the buckle), fold a loop wide enough to easily loop the rest of the belt through. Sew. I sewed mine twice for added security.

STEP THREE: Finish the two cut ends of your belt. I happened to have a small scrap of vinyl left over from a previous project, so that's what I used, but you could bind it with any kind of fabric.

This is what you should now have.

STEP FOUR: Attach the loop piece to the longer piece as shown. To fit my daughter, I attached the loop piece 10" in from the end of the buckle, as shown. I overlapped the two belt pieces completely and sewed three lines across for security.

You're done! This photo shows how you will buckle the seatbelt. Simply lay the loop piece from the back of the seat to the front, loop each of the two sides around a few bars of the shopping cart in the back rest of the seat, wrap them around your child's waist, through the loop, and buckle. That crotch piece should keep your child seated! D-ring belts do have a tendency to slip a little so, again, do not leave your child unattended.

**NOTE: Since I do not have a shopping cart in my home, I used a chair ONLY for the purpose of showing how to buckle the seatbelt. I would never leave my baby unattended on a chair like this!**

Pretty Cute Organizer

2010-01-08T10:13:00.003-06:00

Make an Organizer from Cloth Napkins

from Dollar Store Crafts by heather

Ready to organize in the new year? Here’s something to distract you just a little bit longer: make your own organizer out of cloth napkins. This is another of Cathe Holden’s amazing projects over at Just Something I Made. She designed this project as an over-the-arm organizer for an easy chair or couch, but you could also modify it to make a hanging organizer for your wall. She also provides beautiful vintage images for you to use for the iron-ons. [Easy napkin organizer instructions here]
Project Estimate:

2 cloth napkins, $1
Iron-on transfer paper, about $1 per sheet
Sewing machine and thread, on hand

Total: $2
This post sponsored by:
Fabric.com Coupon Corner

New Year's Resolution

2010-01-07T22:07:00.001-06:00

I want to ride my bike more in 2010! I think I’d ride it even more if I made one of these! Craftster user Redux Fashions made this cute bicycle frame lunch bag tote using stuff (placemats, our favorite!) purchased at the dollar store. Love it – it’s super stylin’! The pattern can be found online at Evil Mad Scientist. [bicycle lunch bag pattern] [dollar store version of bicycle lunch bag]
Project Estimate:

2 placemats, $1 each
Velcro-style tape, $1
Velcro-style cable ties, $1
Buttons, on hand or $1

Total: $4 and up

Suer Cute Hairbow Thingy

2010-01-07T10:58:00.002-06:00

I have a friend who is knocking at the door of "I'll have my first child, please and thank you." She has been talking about wanting one of these in her sweet little bundle of joy's room and I have found the prefect little Hair bow Organizer at Becky Ann Designs blog. I have done something similar to this for a jewelry organizer so this should be a breeze. Can you imagine all the fun things you could clip to this. I thought about doing one with cute little clothes hangers to hang photos. The options are so many. So here it is for you to try out too.

Here is what you will need:

Canvas - 11" x 14" from Hobby Lobby (2 pk $8.99 and I used a 40% off coupon)

Fabric - from my stash

Grossgrain Ribbon - from my stash

Staplegun

First, lay the canvas on your fabric and trim it so that you have plenty to wrap over the edges.

Time for the staplegun! I started with the long sides, then did the corners and finally stapled the middle of the short sides. Just make sure you stretch it tight all the way around.

Here is the front once it is all stapled.

Then, just cut your ribbon to the length needed, staple it to the back of the canvas. I am going to add a picture frame hook to the back and it will be completely done.

Cute right? Have fun making it. I know I will!

OMG Gummies

2010-01-06T22:50:00.001-06:00

OK, I have to try these out so I thought you needed to see them first. I found them over at Skip to My Lou. They are sooooo cute. I'll have to make a few batches fr our upcoming bear picnic in class for a special snack. I think you can find these molds at the Dollar Tree right now so don't be shy. I have never used the molds before so maybe you guys can comment on their ummmmm cooperation. But I will be giving these a try like I said and I already have most of this stuff on hand. I'm sure the candy companies are fuming right now as we are plotting to never again pay their prices for gummy candies. Hooray! So here's how:

Homemade Gummi Candy

All we needed was 1 -3 oz box of flavored gelatin and 2 - 1/4 oz packages of unflavored gelatin, water and candy molds. (we used two candy molds)

Place 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pan. Sprinkle the Jello and unflavored gelatin over the water. Let sit 5 - 10 minutes. (If you like chewier gummi candy add in another packet of unflavored gelatin.)
Place sauce pan over medium heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved, about 2-5 minutes. When mixture is liquid and all gelatin has dissolved, remove from heat. Let cool a minute and then pour into a container that is easy to pour from. I use a small ceramic creamer pitcher.

Fill molds. If you save the inside of the advent calendar for projects like do, it works perfect! The sheet of star molds worked a bit better than the bears because they are a bit deeper. However, I must say we were just needing an activity so our standards were pretty low--- we thought they all turned out great!

Allow to cool completely, about 20 minutes. They may be placed in a refrigerator for about 10 minutes if the kids are eager.
Once cool, the backs can be lightly dusted with corn starch, if desired.

Peel the gummi candy out of the molds. Don't be shy, you won't hurt them when peeling them from the molds. No need to oil the molds!

Enjoy!

Make homemade stickers with the unused unflavored gelatin packets.

Notes: My son felt the blue ones weren't flavorful enough. Next time we will try 2 boxes Jello, 3 packages of unflavored gelatin and 1/2 cup water.

Cute Little Bow or Brooch

2009-12-29T21:31:00.002-06:00

Another from Skip to my Lou. I think I will make a few for my niece.

I am thrilled to share the cutest little project from Calli at Make It Doblog, a felt poinsettia hair clip. I am hoping to make one of these today for my daughter to wear on Christmas Eve.
Be sure to visit Make It Do, her blog is overflowing with creative ideas. Calli says, "In this blog I want to explore how happiness can come from simple things, and how good old fashioned hard work and resourcefulness might just be making a welcome comeback…."
Calli writes...
Yesterday, my girls and I were working on a few Christmas gifts for their friends. One thing led to another and I found myself making yet another flower pin. This time a Poinsettia. I loved this project and ended up making two for my girls, and plan on making more. They are perfect as a broach or as a hair clip.

Here’s what you will need:

Small amount of red wool felt (I used scraps from another project.)
Very small amount of green wool felt (also scraps)
button
pin or hair clip
freezer paper
template here is mysimple template, but I also found this wonderful template from Kaboose. It has a few more petals than my simple flowers, but that might look even better, here’s the link: Kaboose Poinsettia Template

1. Start by tracing your pattern onto the paper side of a piece of freezer paper.

2. Cut out your template, and place it on your wool, waxy/shiny side down.

3. Using an iron set to wool, iron on the template. It will gently stick to your fabric.

4. Using good scissors, cut out around the template.

5. Peel the template away from the wool. It doesn’t leave a mark. Isn’t that cool?

6. Repeat with the smaller flower. I just set the button down to see how it would look.

7. Cut a 1 1/4 inch circle out of red or green felt. Cut two small slits in the circle, just wide enough to slip a hair clip through. This is for the back of the flower, on which to attach the clip or pin.

8. Using just the bottom flower, stitch the circle around the back of the flower. I used white thread to show the stitching better in the photo… Yah, that was it. It wasn’t because my machine was already threaded with white and I was lazy. That wasn’t the reason at all. I was just thinking of you.
9. Somehow I missed taking a picture of cutting out the green center of the flower. I cut my green with a fluted edge, which was a little tricky and requires good scissors. You can also cut it in a circle, but in that case, I would choose a button with a fluted edge. I was dying to try pinking scissors, but I don’t own any. So I just cut the fluted edge out carefully. Sometimes you just need to make it do. The finished green center was a 7/8 inch circle fluted.

10. Layer just the smaller top flower, with green center and button on top. And stitch together going through all three layers.

11. Glue the bottom and top flowers together using hot glue.

There’s a front and back view, with a hair clip attached. I like that this flower is flexible, I can easily pull out the hair clip and I can slip in a broach pin to wear on a sweater, hat or scarf.

Here it is pinned on a sweater…

Thanks to an idea a reader told me about on Craftzine, I also thought this would make a perfect topper for a gift. That way the wrapping is actually like giving another gift. (Using cheap yarn is much, much cheaper than ribbon!)

Cute Little Chef Hat

2009-12-28T09:20:00.001-06:00

This one comes from Skip to My Lou.
These chef hats were gifts for a couple of sweet girls. I packaged them with cookie decorating supplies (and hopefully will make them matching aprons in the future).

Chef Hat Instructions

Supplies:

1 - 18" circle
1 - 8" X 24" rectangle
1 - 8" X 24" lightweight to medium weight iron on interfacing
dental floss
1/2 inch Velcro (about 12")
3" piece of double fold bias tape

Instructions:

Iron interfacing to 8" X 24" piece following manufacture's instructions. Press fabric in half lengthwise and press each edge under 1/2".

Fold piece right sides together, starting 1/2" down from open side, stitch across each end. Turn right side out.

Stitch a 3" piece of bias tape around an edge of the circle.

Zig zag stitch over a piece of dental floss starting and stopping on each side of bias tape.

Gather.

Pin band piece around the gathered edge. Find center of band and center of top piece and begin pinning there. Adjust gathers until the band fits the gathered edge, starting at stopping about a 1/4" over the bias tape on each side (notice how the 1/2" that wasn't sewn on each end neatly slips around the bias tape). Pin heavily to keep in place. This takes some adjusting but it is so nice to have all the unfinished edges covered.

Sewing very close to the edge, sew band to top of hat, removing pins as sewing to keep band flat. It might be necessary to slightly pull the band to keep it smooth.

In the back fold left side over as far as the bias tape opening will allow on top of right side. Place Velcro in this overlapping area and sew all four pieces to hat band.

Sew along each edge of each end if desired, to close area placed over bias tape.

Finished!

Jeweled Frame

2009-12-27T21:15:00.001-06:00

Disney at Ruffles & Stuff came up with a quick and easy (and cheap!) way to make glamorous gemstone frames. Her secret ingredient? Those flat glass marbles you can find in the flower arranging section of the dollar store. This is possibly the best use of these marbles I’ve ever seen! [click here for bejeweled frame tutorial]

You can find a huge array of frames at the dollar store, as well as the glass marbles you need for this project. Disney recommends hot glue for this project because it doesn’t remove the spray paint. Also, in her example shown above, she used embellishments like faux flowers and bows.

Project Estimate:

Frame, $1
Glass marbles, $1
Spray paint, optional, $1 and up or on hand
Additional embellishments, on hand or $1 and up
Hot glue, on hand

Total: $2 and up

Shameless Endorsement

2009-12-24T13:01:00.003-06:00

Don't you just love your friends? I love that I have a good number of friends that if I called right now and asked for something they would be there and do everything in their power to help. I count myself as blessed beyond measure for this. It's hard not to have family close by and I know that will be more true than I know once the kiddos start showing up. I thank God for the support and love I have from the people who are a part of my church. They really have NO idea how they reflect Christ to me and show me how to be a good mommy when the time comes.

Soooo I have one such friend that is FANTASTIC. She really is beautifully talented and is a huge part of our preschool ministry while raising 5 children and has started a little sewing business that has really done so well. I know she's super woman right? She should feel that way anyway. Her name is Kristy Wilder and she has started a business called Twinkie Boutique. She sells boutique style clothes and accents. Can I tell you how much I love her creations! She is really a wealth of creativity. So go check out her blog and get something for your little people!

Isn't her stuff amazing? And this is just a little taste. So here's to my shameless endorsement. Love you Kristy! Oh! And Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

We love apothecary jars!

2009-12-22T06:00:00.001-06:00

I used to have the prettiest apothecary jars in my bathroom. That was until a sweet husband of mine dropped two of them and they shattered into a million pieces over the tile bathroom floor. Don't you just love when that happens. It took forever to get those little glass pieces up. I have not been able to replace them because I got them on sale at Kirkland Home so you can guarantee they won't be there now. That's why I was pretty excited to see this fun little project from The Shabby Chic Cottage. I have to admit I am a little jealous I didn't think of it myself but no matter, as long as I can get them.

Here's How:
It took me forever to find the perfect candlestick, because I wanted one that looked simliar to the turned wooden ones that I adore.

Just remember to leave it alone for 24 hours (that's always the hardest part).

Then you get a beautiful jar. Mine was $4 - $2 for each piece. You can get cheaper components if you look hard enough.

They don't have lids like mine did but they are pretty inexpensive. So have fun making these things and I'll be thinking about what I can do next with this fun idea!

All About a Clipboard

2009-12-21T06:30:00.002-06:00

I never have been able to make my sweet clipboard look good. I tried writing on it but it ended up looking like a bad Napoleon Dynamite poster. Enter Scrap book paper. My happy friends over at Skip to My Lou have a great way to make a fun addition to your organizing tool box or a fun teacher gift.

I used small 6"X 9" clipboards found at OfficeMax ($1.69). The notepads are 5" X 8" 50 sheet Jr. size writing pads, found at Wal-mart (6 notepads were only $2.50).

I tried these two ways:

Using Elmer's Spray Adhesive and Krylon Matt Finish

and using Mod Podge Paper Matte

First cut decorative paper to fit the clipboard. For my clipboards 6" X 9" worked perfectly. I took the extra time to make a template that fit around the top of the clip (a little bit of a pain). I have also seen where there is just a rectangle shape cut to fit around the clip. My paper looked like this.

Paint the back of the paper with Mod Podge Paper (Matte) or spray with the Elmer's Spray Adhesive. If you are using spray adhesive also spray the clipboard. Cover the the clip with masking tape to keep it clean. Pay special attention to make sure which ever method used that the edges of the paper are completely covered. Working quickly, place the paper onto the clipboard. This is a bit tricky. It is okay to lift up and reposition until it matches all of the edges properly. Be careful not to stretch the paper. Smooth paper and make sure the entire piece of paper is secured. When I had a spot along the edge that wasn't adhered, I lifted it slightly and added more glue. Allow to dry at least 15 minutes before putting on top coat. Round off corners with scissors.

Give the top of the paper a light coat of Mod Podge Paper in matte or two coats of spray matte finish. I have to say I like the paper feel and look so I prefer the Krylon spray matte finish.

Glue a matching piece of decorative paper to the top of the notepad. Any glue will do.

To give the clipboard an extra nice touch I added a metal label holder. I taped them on with a piece of clear tape exactly where I wanted them and then my husband drilled holes in the metal clip so they could be attached with the brads included in the package.

I painted the metal holders and brads with gloss paint. Open the clip as far as you can so you can attach the metal label holder and spread the brads apart on the back side of the clip.

Finished! I think I will put the recipient's name in the label holders.

So there you go. Frugal, fun and oh so pretty. Have fun out there!

Such Cute Personalized Photo Magnets

2009-12-20T08:00:00.002-06:00

Photos are so fun, right? My sweet husband is a documentary photographer when he isn't blowing me away with his mad graphic design skills. So you can imagine our house has quite a few photos in it. Our computer has thousands. This one is one of my favorites. There's just something about capturing an important moment or communicating so many words with a single image. Photos are emotional, stale, amazing, appealing, fascinating, and at times ironic. They are iconic to those they capture and keep a piece of history for the person taking the photo and all those who take a look at it afterward.

So that's where these really easy, frugal, and chic photo magnets come in. I found them over at Vanilla Joy.

This is a great idea to give as a Christmas gift or anytime gift really. I'm thinking I will give these to a few sweet family members who love photos as much as I do.

Just buy yourself a little sheet of magnetic canvas $5 for an 18''x24'' from Roberts Crafts. Just pick a pic place it on the magnetic sheet, trim and you're done. I think I will do mine with names on the pics with some scrapbooking stuff. Lots of fun to you and don't forget to have a little fun this holiday season!

All Those Christmas Cards

2009-12-13T15:29:00.001-06:00

Every year I get wonderful Christmas cards from family and friends. I really like Christmas cards. They are simple and while they're not necessary, it's at least a way to stay in touch with people over the holidays. My grandmother had 15 children so you can imagine trying to keep up with everyone. So we send out a little Christmas card and newsletter to feel a little more connected. So when I was on one of my favorite sites Dollar Store Crafts I found a great idea to use those 101 Christmas cards that have been collecting.

So here's how:
Project Estimate:

3 greeting cards per house, on hand
Battery-operated tea lights, 2 for $1
Tissue paper (optional), on hand
Tape & scissors, on hand

Total: $.50 per house (unless you prefer unlit houses, and then this is FREE!)

It's even look on well by all the tree-huggers of the world. Now who wouldn't love decorations like that?

Steps:

1. From your stash of cards, find three that are identical in size. If you have to trim a couple to make them all the same, be sure to save the scraps, as you can use those to make your window panes.

2. On one card, cut out a small window on each side. On the other card, cut out a window and a door. Cut down one side and top of a long rectangle for the door, being sure you can fold it to the side to make it look like it's half way open.

3. Using card stock or your extra card scraps, make window panes on your window openings. Tape the pieces on the inside of the cards. You can tape sheets of tissue paper if you'd like as well.

4. Tape the two cards together from the inside to create a box shape.

5. Cut the third card in half along the existing crease and tape each half to the sides of the box. Attach the two pieces together to create the finished roof.

6. To make my houses look cute and whimsical, I put tape on the top corners of each roof.

7. To create a snowy effect, place fiberfill around your card houses.

8. I also tried lighting up my houses by putting in an enclosed tea light candle. To make things safer, I think I would put in a battery-operated tea light candle instead. It looks so pretty at night!

Have fun if you have time to make this. I think we will do it while I am in Knoxville with the rents. Happy crafting and Merry Christmas!

Free 2010 Calendar

2009-12-03T17:10:00.004-06:00

I happily get the Pillsbury newsletters in my recipe inbox each week. They really have some fantastic recipes and they are updating and adding to them all the time. So you can imagine my excitement when I looked in my inbox today and there awaited my happy email. Then what to my wondering eyes would see, but a free calendar with 12 happy recipes. So here's the link to go and get yours and happy 2010!

Welcome Home

2009-12-02T13:00:00.002-06:00

It has been a few days since I got back home from Africa and I am not feeling well today so I'll post a little something I would find useful and a pic from Africa. Then I'm going to drift in and out of consciousness.

Skip to My Lou posted a fantastic book label for teachers. I know I would love to get a set of these cute things so give them to a teacher you love!

And lastly here is a picture of me with a sweet orphan boy in Kampala, Uganda. I'm sure you can guess I wanted to take him home with me but I'll have to wait for just a little while.

Best Recipe Website Ever, Really

2009-11-16T19:28:00.001-06:00

To take a small break from crafting I wanted to share with you all a great recipe website that I swear by. It's called All Recipes.

I know there are fifty thousand different recipe websites and they are all good in some way but here are a few reasons why I really love this site and use it often.

1. It's really easy to navigate through the website. You can find anything with a few short clicks.

2. You can register and the really easy tool bar next to each recipe is a tool bar that you can customize the recipe, add the ingredients to a shopping list, print, share, and add to your virtual recipe box.

3. Probably my favorite is how you can change the serving size and they will automatically adjust the amounts of each ingredient. Pretty fantastic if you ask me!

4. There are reviews from real people and lots of people. The people in the reviews tell you how they changed the recipe to make it different and maybe better.

5. They have fun holiday tabs with loads of fun recipes and such.

Those are just the top five reasons. There are lots more features and it's mucho fun. Sometimes I get a little lost in everything but I realize what I can actually make in a 24-hour period. I get a bit carried away at times, can you tell? So have fun looking around.

Family is Gone but Tags Are Here

2009-11-15T20:32:00.001-06:00

This weekend has been crazy and fantastic and exhausting all at the same time. I really wish my family could stay for like a month but I know, I know - everyone has to go home eventually. I'll be traveling to Africa with Four Corners Ministries in four days so there are lots of things to be done. Along with all the fun my dear friend Kayla is coming over to spend the week while her husband is out. I love family and friends. I would have people over at my house all the time if sweet Mr. Phillips would let me. He needs man cave time though.

I found a really cute gift tag tutorial that is SUPER easy to do. It even uses a program most of us already have. Thanks to Life in Grace blog. I can only try to describe the feeling when I find a easy, creative way to say 'you're the best' or 'I love you' or "Happy Anything." They're so cute.

So here it is:

The following is a pic-tutorial of how to create your own labels in Microsoft Word.
A few words to the wise:
1. Print on plain paper first
2. Use solid sheets of “label paper” {so they will be stickers--that you can cut out in your desired shape}. Be sure you get ink jet paper for an ink jet printer or laser paper for a laser printer.
3. Make your margins smaller so you can squeeze more on a page

**(Tutorial says to do the above but I like using the avery labels that are 2'' to make it quicker and easier. These are just my quick steps)

Start by inserting a shape/object onto your document and then size it according to your preference.

Other ideas for this fun little sticker. I'm making some pronto!

I like the tags too. If you have any other ideas to use them for feel free to comment.

Sweet Drink Lovies

2009-11-12T17:15:00.002-06:00

I love things that are simple, direct, and warm. Which is why I love these sweet (and oober easy) stencils. With the holidays coming up you could use them for all the fun baked goods while you're at it. So here they are and the how to. You are going to love how easy they are. I found them at how about orange blog.

Step 1: Draw the design on a piece of paper

Step 2: Lay a plastic lid on top. (This one is from a deli container.) With an X-acto knife cut through the plastic, tracing along the design underneath. A tip: you'll never be able to cut the shapes out in one pass. Make many cuts on top of each other until you break through.

Step 3: Lay the stencil on top of your mug and sprinkle with cinnamon or cocoa. Dust the powder through a sieve or strainer to make a very fine layer.

Violia you're done and really happy about it too! I have thought about doing a few and putting them in a cute little container under a counter for quick access.

Monogrammed Candles

2009-11-11T18:00:00.004-06:00

I have had a long love affair with monogrammed anything for some time now. My favorite is to see things from Pottery Barn that are monogrammed and L.L Bean is a close second. Maybe it's a southern thing or the fact that it looks really clean but I really like it. We, at the Phillips house, love to give monogrammed gifts as well so I found a really sweet and easy monorammed candle that is so very inexpensive. Found this little dandy over at Life on Grace blog. By the way, can you believe it is almost the middle of November? There are times I wish we could just freeze time and look at it a little. I guess it is a reminder of how finite we are.
Anyway, here is how you can do this cute candle.

Products: Glass and Tile medium, black acrylic craft paint, and a tiny paint brush. All these items should cost you arouns $3-$5 at a craft store.

A candle (my current favorite is this brand from Bed, Bath and Beyond). Candle manufactures come and go, as soon as I fall in love with one they will stop making it. Try out a few and see what works best for you. There are lots of great, affordable candles out there. Big lots can have great deals on candle packs or the Dollar Tree (you know I love them!).

Step 1: Now that you have your materials, print out a letter (or letter's' if you would like a triple monogram) off the computer in the font that you would like for your monogram. Position and center the letter on the candle. Hold the letter in place and trace the letter onto the candle with light, but firm pressure. I like to use the point of a mechanical pencil for this step because it carves a thin line onto the surface of the candle. Remember, some candles are softer than others, so take care to not press too hard which would result in large, deep lines in the candle. I will tape mine on because I don't have surgeons hands by any means!

Step 2: Paint on a very thin coat of the Glass and Tile Medium over the monogram on the candle as shown below. This coat will dry slightly "milky" so be sure to use a thin coat. Allow about 15 or 20 minutes to dry.

Step 3: Using your thin paint brush, paint over your carved letter with black paint. Keep your hand as steady as you can, and paint the letter to look as much like the letter you printed off the computer as possible. I would think you can try a paint pen for this too it just depends on the look you want.

Step 4: Once you are satisfied, allow the paint to dry for at least 30 minutes before wrapping the candle. These candles look lovely wrapped in clear plastic cellophane wrap, tied up with festive ribbon. I keep lots of ribbon on hand, by simply changing the ribbon it becomes a great, unique gift for lots of different occasions. Just think they could be used for a baby shower gift for mom, Christmas, Teacher Gift, Valetine's Day... -- the possibilities are endless.

Don't be afraid, you can do this! This is a simple way to create lots of affordable and personal gifts. People will love receiving them and they will enjoy many hours of the calming serenity that candlelight can bring into a home. Have fun! And don't get me started on how much I love cellophane to put around them!

Fabric Luggage Tags

2009-11-10T17:00:00.009-06:00

Here is a super cute gift for Christmas or a cute idea just for yourself. I found it over at our Skip to My Lou blog. Did I menetion I love this blog! These luggage tags are so easy you could use scraps left over from other projects. You will need a sewing machine though.

So here's how to:

Step 1: To print name and address on fabric, cut white muslin and freezer paper 8 1/2" X 11". Iron shiny side of freezer paper to back of fabric. Send paper through an ink jet printer. You can also buy fabric especially made to go through the printer. I also talk about this technique here. Press printing when finished to help set ink. You could even scan in a business card and print that onto the fabric. (if you want you can always hand write the address on there and it gives it that sweet, "hey I made this for you and even used my own handwriting" look)

Step 2: Cut one 3 1/2" X 5" piece of printed fabric with name and address, 1 - 3 1/2 X 5" piece of fabric, two 3 1/2" X 5" pieces of heavy weight iron on interfacing and one 2" X 12 piece of fabric for strap.

Step 3: Following manufacture's instructions iron interfacing to wrong side of both 3 1/2" X 5" pieces of fabric.
Press strap piece in half lengthwise, open up, press each side to the middle then fold in half. Edge stitch down each side.

Step 4: Pin fabric pieces right sides together. Fold strap in half and place inside the fabric with cut edges sticking out 1/2". (Make sure not to accidentally stitch into strap as you sew around the edge.)

Step 5: Using 1/4" seam, stitch all the way around the outside edge, leaving an opening for turning.
Clip corners.

Step 6: Turn, press, and edge stitch along the outside edge making sure to close the opening. Stitch another row of stitching if desired.

So sweet. We are going to Africa in about a week and I'm totally making one of these for our luggage. We will know exactly which one is ours coming off the baggage claim belt. Yay! They would make cute little tags too. So have fun making them. I'll post pics of how mine turned out if I get to it. The fam is coming down this weekend for Thanksgiving so it will be lots of fun and food and family. All the best f's!

Oh How I Love Pottery Barn

2009-11-07T22:31:00.003-06:00

Yep. I have a feeling you love it too. I love Pottery Barn. I love the feeling you get when you walk in the doors of the store. I love how clean and light everything is set up. I love every detail they put into their rooms and silly me to think any of my rooms would turn out like them. I wouldn't actually get to live in them if that were the case. Sigh.

I like Pottery Barn even better when I can recreate their fantastic ideas for well, much, much less than what I would buy them for. So here's something s-u-p-e-r cute from a sweet little blog called mad in crafts.

She is doing something called "A Dollar Barn Christmas" where she is doing fun things from The Pottery Barn with items found at the Dollar Tree. She has been able to pull off this look found in Pottery Barn.

With just some ribbon to look like this.

Isn't it fantastic. I am totally getting pics from past Christmas celebrations to put in my frames. I think it would look really nice with navy matting too. Navy happens to be my favorite color! I think it's good for almost any season.

All you need to do is glue the ribbon to the inside of the frame like so.

Super easy right? I think so. In mad in crafts she says to use Grosgrain Ribbon but I don't see why satin ribbon couldn't work. So have a happy time going down Christmas memory lane with your sa-weet new photo frames.

Christmas Tags Round 2!

2009-11-05T22:15:00.000-06:00

Here's round 2 ladies. More super cute tags for you to enjoy!

Remember I found them at our local Skip to My Lou.

From Delight.

Download HERE.

From Grand Revival.

Download HERE.

Scroll down on the page to find the download button from this site.

From Martha Stewart (she's my girl!).

Download HERE.

From Angry Chicken.

Download HERE.

From Little Window Shop.

Download HERE.

That is all for now and I will send more as I find them. Yay for Christmas!!!

Sorry Friends but I Made Up For It!

2009-11-05T17:00:00.004-06:00

I have been a bit busy this week with Secret Church coming up tomorrow. So, I thought I would do a quick post to make all the friends happy. I have a whole SHLEW (I think that's a word) of free printable tags. They are so stinkin cute and all you need do is print. Yay!!! Can't you feel how much I love you that I would send you free things. Smile. Enjoy and feel free to share.

This time I will just focus on Christamas tags as that fantastic holiday is coming up soon but I'll be sure to add more as I find them. These are from my sweet Skip To My Lou. She's amazing!

From Bucklette

To Download click HERE.

She has four charming sets so make sure you scroll through her previous posts.

From Paper Crave

Download HERE.

From Mushy.

Download HERE. I LOVE these!!!

From Sew Mama Sew.

Download HERE.

These are great for those yummy homemade treats!

From Yoonie-At-Home.

Download HERE.

Download HERE.

From Inside a Black Apple.

Download HERE.

From LollyChops.

Download HERE.

From Fanciful Twist.

Download HERE.

I hope that's enough to get you started and I'll post more tonight or tomorrow. Happy crafting all ya'll!

2 Cute and Super Easy Crafts

2009-11-01T20:52:00.002-06:00

I have had quite a day. I went to Talladega Super Speedway today for the AMP 500 with my parents and Mr. Phillips. It was actually so much more fun than I thought it would be. I do have to admit we saw Alabama's finest there. Like people yelling out "alcoholism, woo." Pretty sad huh? It wasn't all that way though so it was pretty fun! We got the tickets free from a friend and I have been trying to get tickets for like 4 years and God totally sat them in our lap. We WON'T pay $70 for a ticket to almost anything. So they were an early b-day gift for daddy-o! We had great fun.

So on to the good stuff. I found two really cute projects. The first is fabric covered clothes pins from My Three Silly Beanz and the other is a photo mat re-do from MaxxSilly.

The first, the fabric colored clothes pins, is so cute and easy. All you need are clothespins, 3/8 wide ribbon/ribbon scraps, mod podge or spray glue.
OPTIONAL: round magnets & hot glue

Here's how you do it.

Measure ribbon and cut to fit on top of clothespin
Throw on some mod podge or spray glue
Set ribbon on mod podged/spray glued clothespin
Slap on another layer of mod podge or just let it dry if you used spray glue
Let dry

OPTIONAL: glue a magnet on the back

So very easy, right? You can find an entire bag of clothes pins at the dollar tree to do this cute project. Us them to clip up little people's art in a cute way or use for a super cute chip bag holder. The possibilities are endless.

The second, the photo mat, requires some yellow 5 x 7 photo mats (via our trusty dollar tree) and cute scrapbook paper to your liking. You will also need an x-acto knife, scotch tape, scissors, cutting mat, ruler and a frame. All pretty inexpensive.

Then to make you follow these easy instructions.

Put the scrapbook paper under the matting on the cutting mat. Put the scrapbook paper face down so you can trace a line if you need.
Use your x-acto knife or scissors and cut or use a rotery tool and do it super quick.
Use double side tape and tape the four corners of the scrapbooking paper to the matting. Use more if you need it.
Place with a great photo in your frame.

Love it! I'm making the second one for someone for Christmas so they make great gifts too. Happy crafting!

A Publix Miracle

2009-11-01T01:58:00.001-05:00

Today I took a little trip today with my mom and dad, Judy and Bill, and sweet Mr. Phillips to the local Publix. Can you believe all of them even came with me on my shopping adventure? I love my family.

One side note first. I L-O-V-E Publix. When it comes to using coupons and the staff being all around great they are the best. They really do make shopping a pleasure. Thank Big P!

Back to the story. So I had spent a little time preparing my shopping list, clipping a few coupons and printing any coupons that I found online. Then it was shopping time. I sent everyone on their missions for specific items like a strategic general. In case you are not on the coupon band wagon we're always stopping for new riders! I use a site that is truly amazing. It is called Southern Savers. I am entirely amazed by how much I save. What the fantastic people at Southern Savers do is compile a list of sale items and buy one get one free items along with coupons to use with them. These coupons are both in the Sunday paper and online. They include where to find both with the list. I know, you are amazed already. But wait, there's more. They aren't limited to Publix. They do a few other grocery stores, most not in our area (sigh), and drug stores. I have yet to really be able to get fantastic savings at drug stores but I'm pretty determined to save more moolah to use elsewhere!

Well today was a day that will go down in frugal Phillips history. Publix paid me to take some cookie dough off their hands. No typo there. They paid me. Woo hoo! I can hear the applause now. Please, please, no autographs. With manufacturers coupons and a great Publix in ad coupon I was able to get out of Publix $.39 richer. A little Publix miracle. I got a total of 12 ready made frozen cookie dough sheets for Christmas and other occasions for more than free. Can you see my ridiculous smile now?

I have gotten things for free at times but I have never been paid to buy groceries. I usually set a goal to save as much as I spend. So if I get $100 of groceries I try to only pay $50. I don't always make my goal but it's really like a competition with myself. And I am very competitive. I still work from a happy budget but another great thing I forgot to mention about Southern Savers is they tell you how much something will cost after coupons. For a math genius like me that deserves a high five!

I don't spend hours clipping and finding coupons so that's not required to save. Just wanted to share with some friends who love to see the total go backward at the end of your Publix visit with all those sweet coupons!

Oh! And don't forget to fall back. Another hour of blissful sleep is straight from the Lord!

Super Cute Door Hanger

2009-10-30T23:06:00.003-05:00

So I don't have much time to put up a post with my parents in town and Halloween in...... well not long. So here is a little door sign in case you are out when little people come by hoping to gobble up all your candy. It's pretty cute I think.

Cute right. Download the little booger here for free! I just love that word. Now if I can only get that little cricut machine I want to hang out with free. :0) Until then Happy Halloween!

Cleaning My Face the Right Way

2009-10-29T14:00:00.003-05:00

When my husband ends up calling me frugal mc-froog I imagine an award for frugal lady of the year. Enter applause. But clearly the frugal award would probably just be a piece of paper with woo hoo! written on it in true frugal fashion. So when I tell you about this don't think me crazy. I can actually say after trying this it works. I found it over here at simple mom.

The skinny version is you use mostly natural ingredients to clean your face. I have a friend that makes her own laundry detergent which I fully intend on trying which made me brave enough to try this but back to the face wash. The whole idea actually makes pretty good sense. When you strip the skin on your face of natural oils by using face wash you actually do more damage than good. Your 'kind' little pores then produce double time to make up for the lack. This can account for most of the oil many people find on their face.

So here's the REALLY simple formula I used. I put together 3 parts castor oil (I have pretty oily skin) which to try out I used 3 oz. and 1 part extra virgin olive oil (1oz.). I just used an old eye make-up remover bottle to put it in. Well friends, this skeptic was happily eating a little humble pie afterwards. You can pick up castor oil for about $2.50 at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy area and you know where EVOO is.

My review. It felt extremely weird to actually put oil on my face in stead of suck it all out (literally have tried that by the way). Years of hating on my face I suppose made it feel pretty ikeey. But after I rubbed it in and wiped it off with a warm wash cloth my skin felt a-mazing. It was so smooth and healthy looking. I have been using it for a few weeks now and I'm pretty much never going to use the other stuff again. It was a fantastic eye makeup remover too. Better than most of the high end stuff I have tried and tons less expensive. Blemishes are caused by built up nasties in pores so when you wash with wonder oil (that's what I'm calling mine) you actually get all that yuck out.

All this goes to show I can't judge something as ridiculous just because I have been fed the consumer pooh-pooh. And if Mr. Phillips wants to call me fruga mc-froo I guess we're none the poorer for it!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, And More Pumpins!

2009-10-29T06:30:00.002-05:00

I must admit I have little confession. I really, really like pumpkins. I love the way they look sitting outside your front door. I love the way they look sitting (currently) on my kitchen island just waiting to be used for some yummy recipe. I love the way they look in books I read my little people. I especially love they look all in a sweet row at the pumpkin patch. There's something about pumpkins all in a row that makes my little organizing heart skip a beat. All right, all right, you get the idea. I found a happy little site with many, many recipes with your favorite little orange food, and mine, --the pumpkin. I have not tried any of these recipes yet but some look pretty good. Feel free to take a gander. And let me know if you make anything and it's yummy.

Amy's Finer Things

Better Late Than....Umm......Never!

2009-10-28T18:30:00.005-05:00

For the past few weeks I have been working from a fantastic holiday planning checklist. I really like it. Here it is. I wanted to share it with YOU.

Beautiful right. Love the colors and the font choice and the simplicity. Don't we all need more of that? While I have talored it to fit our family I really like the idea of having a stress free holiday and getting things done early. We will be going to Africa for 2 weeks in November. Soooooo, I really have to get on the ball with all these things that need to be done. I have started but need to catch up a little.

Best part of the whole opperation is......(drumroll please)..... IT'S FREE. You can download a pre-filled in checklist or a blank one.

Blank Holiday Checklist
Pre-Made Holiday Checklist

The checklist starts back in Spetember but no worries if you are a little behind. You can make up for the time with little to no problem. I just wanted to share so friends would be able to get what they needed and actually ENJOY the birth of our Lord. This is one of my favorite times of the year so in regular Phillips fashion I must go completely overboard. Just as a side note I think I will make a little b-day cake for Jesus for my four-year-old neice. Do you do that?

The little checklist treasure is from Giver's Log (a pretty sweet blog) if you want to run over and see the whole post she did on it. Here's a Merry Christmas to you, friends.

Halloween Wreath

2009-10-28T17:00:00.003-05:00

Check out this REALLY cute and chic wreath. I just love the creativity of some people. I call them brilliant. I probably will not get to do this one this year as Halloween is only a few days away. Then again I have been known to do crazier things. I guess we will have to see. But a Christmas one would be just what the doctor ordered.

Just too darn cute and may I suggest, if you do not already have one, to get a circle cutter. I think I got mine by Martha Stewart (love her products) at Wal-Mart for around $8.00. I use it quite often and it has plenty of different options for circle size. Eventually I think I will get a happy little scalloped circle puncher when I come up with some extra funds. Until then it will have to be simply circles.

You can find the how to right HERE. And I found this happy little craft at Brixton Lane. Aren't her colors she uses just beautiful?! This is a new blog I found but you can be sure I will be subscribing to it.

So pray for me today because I don't think my wonderful co-teacher will be coming in today so I could have 14 little people by myself. But it's all good and I just hope she gets better and I hope it isn't swine flu. I love being with the little people and teaching them. They are only 4 and we are teaching them the -at family. You know bat, cat, mat, rat. They love it and they are so excited they are already 'reading.' I am a BIG fan of the Hoover County method of teaching phonics. My sweet co-teacher actually helped develop it so I would say I'm pretty blessed to learn it all from her.

We will be acting out the account of Mark 6 where Jesus sent out the disciples 2 by 2 with some specific instructions. They have so much fun living out the stories and I want them to be more than just stories, ya know! Then there's a folk story from the country of Haiti and we will be making some cute shoes to remember the story.

Can you tell I get just a little excited when talking about my little friends. I don't have kids yet so I get to pour God's word into these little people in the interim. Yay for God's Word!

5 Minute Treat Bag

2009-10-28T07:21:00.001-05:00

So I LOVE finding things that are SUPER inexpensive. As a matter of fact I have grown quite fond of our local dollar tree store. P.S. dollar tree - thank you for actually selling all your items for a dollar.

So, here is a super great treat bag I found complete with tutorial from Obsessively Stitching found via HERE.

All this fun with only there supplies. Genius!

I will be making some cute pumpkin bags (I hope) for my sweet little people. Provided I can find the dish towels as we call them here in the south. I like the spider one too for boys. They're really cute and I am spinning thinking of all the holidays I can exploit with these little buggers. I mean don't you need one for EVERY holiday. I know I do! So have fun making them and post a pic if you make one. I would love to see them.

Too Many Good Things Beginning

2009-10-27T11:43:00.003-05:00

Ok, ok, ok. So there are 'too many good things' that I find daily not to share with my sweet friends. So I'm starting this little blog to send great websites, products, crafts, free stuff, and tutorials your way so get ready for the fun to begin.

I tried to figure out the best way to circulate all these wonderful things I find out of the -too many to count- blogs I follow. So if I have ever told you about this great blog I found or this great craft I found now you will be able to find it...we'll you should be able to find it. I can't remember who I told these great discoveries to and who I haven't so violia - Too Many Good Things Blog!

So here's to all the fun things I find and all my WONDERFUL, TALENTED, AMAZING, CLEVER, AND OF COURSE GORGEOUS friends God has given me to share with. Here's the first thing I'm posting and there are much, much more to come!

Candy Bar Covers from Skip to My Lou (one of the best sites out there for oh so cute ideas and pretty inexpensive)

Don't those make you just want to eat whatever is inside. Ok, ok, it helps that it's chocolate but this would be a great little thing to do with kiddos or a class (like my 4 year olds). I think they're just too cute and not too spooky.

These Halloween candy bar covers are such a simple, inexpensive way to make candy bars festive.
For the mummy, stick 2 wiggly eyes at the top of the candy bar, wrap white crepe paper party streamers around the candy bar. Fasten with some tape. Done!

For the bat, print out a template and cut the bat out with black construction paper, add eyes, tape the ends of the candy bar wrapper to the back. Place candy bar inside bat and wrap the wings around the candy bar and fasten with a piece of double stick tape or a glue dot.

Candy Bar Wrapper Bat Template Download

Happy Halloween Tag Download

We're going to use these this week as we study noctornal animals I think and send them home after our super fun fall party in our class! I'll try to remember to post some pictures.
So happy halloweening (yes, that IS a word) and enjoy this as a gift for someone else or yourself. And Long Live Chocolate!

Too Many Good Things

Better This Way

Free and Frugal Outtings

Hello Neighbor, What Do You Say? It's Going To Be A Happy Day!

Stencil With Freezer Paper

All Things Family

Taffy........That YOU Made. Oh yes you can!

Homemade Taffy

Directions:

Wall Art Display

#1 Collage It

#2 Group together on the wall

#3 Treat it as art

ORget it for free at Canvas People – click here!

#3 Take it with you and show it off!

Other ideas I found but don’t have pictures for are:

Look What I Can Do........Shhhhh....... You Can Do It Too!

Ice Cream Cone Cakes

Batch Cooking from Simple Bites

Freezer Meals

Advantages:

Disadvantage:

Helpful Tools:

Good Freezer Meal Recipes

Once A Month Cooking

Cooking & Freezing Staples from Scratch

Who Else Needs A Spa Day?

Did Someone Say That Dirty Word......Organic?

About the Database

Ten Ways to Get Smart About Personal Care Products

Just in Case

If You Didn't Get Enough

Anytime Dessert Trays

Robin's Eggs For Easter

Not Just Valentine Napkin Rings

Olympic Sized Fun

I can make my own shirt!

Love these cool shirts chek them out. I'm going to make a few for a friends baby. They will be so cute on onesie's! I think I'll make one too that says I heart Daniel. He needs to know he's awesome!

I Won't Call You Procrastinators......I'll Call You Prompt Challenged

I Can't Do It All....... But I can say Thank You.

More Valentines - Treat Bags

Nothing V-dayish here but thought this one was simple, cute, and clean. Hope you can make one. I think I will put hearts on mine in stead of fags. Find it over at How About Orange blog.

I NEVER Would Have Thought of This!

Supplies for 1 wreath

Instructions

Another Valentine's Day Classic

Oooooooo Monograms!

Good Old Glitter Hearts

Bath Fizzies

DIY Bath Bombs

Lovey Dovey Soap

Gearing Up for the Big Love Day

Stickers!!!!!!

Decorate your Calendar with Event Stickers

For Mommies of Little People

This one is from Obsessively Stitching blog.

Pretty Cute Organizer

New Year's Resolution

Suer Cute Hairbow Thingy

OMG Gummies

Make homemade stickers with the unused unflavored gelatin packets.

Cute Little Bow or Brooch

Cute Little Chef Hat

Chef Hat Instructions

Supplies:

Instructions:

Jeweled Frame

Shameless Endorsement

We love apothecary jars!

All About a Clipboard

Such Cute Personalized Photo Magnets

All Those Christmas Cards

Free 2010 Calendar

Welcome Home

Best Recipe Website Ever, Really

Family is Gone but Tags Are Here

Sweet Drink Lovies

Monogrammed Candles

Fabric Luggage Tags

Oh How I Love Pottery Barn

OR
get it for free at Canvas People – click here!