Blog Award

Tara over at the fabulous blog The Trendy Treehouse has awarded  my blog this award. 

Thanks so much, I have really enjoyed jumping into the crafty blog community! The trendy treehouse has so much offered over there and is a great example of what a trendy blog should be! So this is quite an honor.

Custom Order Show off and Tutorial

If  you did not know, I have an online shop through etsy that I sell children's clothes.  I opened it back in May and it has been an adventure!  I started sewing and selling to feed my crafting habits.  However, with the economy and our budget changing so did my reasons for my business.  I want to thank all who buy handmade -not just from me but from the many.  There is no way I would be able to stay home with my children without that income.  I am able to buy our groceries every month because of it. Soo THANK YOU! I felt I needed to say that before I go on with my little show off and tutorial.

This was a custom order for a friend which I am sure I will introduce later.  She wanted a cupcake onesie with a 1 on top and a matching tutu.  Here is what I came up with. 

She loves everything boutique so she also wanted a bow holder for her daughter using her initial and the colors of pink and purple to match her room- which is pictured at the top. Let me take you through the process so if you decide to make this you can avoid my mistakes!

I started with the letter- i found this letter at hobby lobby along with all my other supplies.  I traced the letter on th back of the scrapbook paper I wanted to glue on  top- do you see how i already screwed up! and i only bought one piece of the perfect pink polka dot paper- don't worry I didn't figure out I screwed up until AFTER I cut it out!!

DANG - IT .... okay I did some thinkin' and I will piece the scraps together to make it work.

I used mod podge to glue it down.  don't be too stingy with this stuff! and look out for air bubbles. Now is the hard part letting it dry. Once it dries you can take your exacto kniff to cut any paper hanging over.- if it tears a little during this process don't worry because now it is time to do some sanding.

I like to sand all the edges and even a little on the top to give a scratched look. For this bow holder I decided to embellish it with some ribbon and a painted crown cut out.  I cut the ribbon to fit, sealed the ends and modpodged it on first.

Then mod podge thest of the letter and WAIT until it dries. Did I mention I hate waiting? I guess while I wait I will get my ribbon ready.  I  wanted a pink and purple ribbon but could not find what I wanted so stitched the pink ribbon on the purple using a wide zig zag stitch.  If you stitch on ribbon, it tends to wrinkle up a bit. just iron it straight.

I used my staple gun to attach to the letter. I used my glue gun to attach my crown and bow to the letter.

Lastly, to hang the letter you can attach some kind of picture hanger, which I did not have on hand so I went with the soda top.

My letter is pretty thin so this was a little difficult- I nailed and glued this sucker on.

If you don't want to make one but would like one of these or another beautiful bow holder check out all the wonderful items and sellers on etsy.

Blog Honor!

Kelly over at Chick N Charge had honored me with this award.  She has a wonderfully creative blog there be sure to check her out!

Thank you so much.  I just started blogging again the past few weeks and it has been a great joy getting meet so many wonderful folks and of course I still enjoy reading everyone elses blogs and seeing their creative minds at work!

I am to pass this along to seven more fabulous blogs but this is where i get stuck!! I love reading so many blogs I follow probably like 40 and that number seems to grow everyday I also love looking at all the blogs that link up to the different parties I link up too. SOOOOOOOOOOO to limit it to 7 is just down right impossible to me!

Knitting!! Oh MY!

My sister in law Caci is in the middle of showing her home and preparing to make the big move BACK to Texas.  Let me not forget to mention she has 4 kids ranging from 6 months up to an 11 year old!  I can't even imagine.  Anyways, Caci is one crafty mama and still finds to craft.  She has had to put away her sewing machine and a lot of her paper crafts and has focused on a new craft knitting.  She has really enjoyed this new craft and finds time to do knit just about every night.  It amazes me, because knitting seems like it takes a lot of focus and time and I am just too ADD! Caci has posted her first knitted item in her etsy shop Pickled Peppers and I am sure it won't be her last.  These blankets are wonderfully soft! I had some for the babies when we brought them home from the hospital and kept them as a keepsake they could pass down to their children.  

What's on the Menu for this week?

I hate asking Jason what do you want to eat this week and the response is always the same "I don't know?" and the thing is I don't know either yet I must come up with a plan for the week. I know everyone is in the same position so I thought I would post what the plan is and you can leave comments to help me out next week by telling me maybe your favorite meal you are planning to fix this week.  I typically plan for 5-6 meals a week and one dessert.  The reason for only 5-6 is not because we go out to eat with 2 2yrold toddlers and no money but because I take a night or two off and we have leftovers. So here is our plan in no particular order:

1. BBQ, macaroni, baked beans, corn
2.Red Beef Enciladas, guacamole and chips, rice and beans
3.Lasagna, salad
4.Grilled Chicken and Veggie Bake
5.Ham and Potato Soup

and for dessert Homemade Banana Pudding using Caci (my sister in law) recipe:) yum

What are you planning that is your favorite?

Raggy Flops Part 1

This just the first part of this tutorial.  I think my Texas colors will definitely shine on this project!! I know it is early for flip flops at least it is here.  In fact a little cold front just moved in and it has been pretty windy.  So since it is so nasty outside I have to get some fun craft inside going on.  I know you have seen these.  I have never made any but I wanted to make a pair and add some extra flair.  By the way this a craft fun for the kids to do and help with.  My kiddos loved playing with the scraps and handed me strips.

So here is how I got started:
Pick your fabrics- I decided to go with the pink black combos

I also added cowprint after I took this picture.

Next cut about 3/4 in strip across the width of the fabric.  I was using 5 different fabrics so for the flip flops I cut two strips of each fabric for a total of 10 strips.

Then cut the strips to about 5-6 in. lengths- you don't want to cut them too short because it becomes too hard to tie in knots.

Now start tying them on the flip flops.

I wrapped the straps for decorating these flip flops with a bow but it is sooooo not neccessary for this craft.

Here it is after I finished tying the rags on.

Whoa!! That is a MESS- let's see if it is better on.

NOPE- and as my daughter says "too much!" So don't toss out the shoes yet- I will give them a simple haircut and here is what we have now.

 I like it but I think it needs a little more definition so that will be in a later post after I get a little work done.  You can buy the flip flops pretty cheap at hobby lobby.  Thanks so much looking at my crafts.  I always appreciate comments and my followers.  If you have any questions I can't seem to figure out how to anwer in an e-mail- my computer puts me through a wizard and says i can't do it.  I guess I can answer in later posts or in the comments- sorry i am not too good with these computers.

Lacing Cards

I found some those awesome melissa and doug lacing beads at Savers for 1.99 and of course had to snatch those right up.  This activity is a little difficult for my 2 year olds but is a great educational activity I can help them with.  While playing with the beads, I thought about the lacing cards or sewing cards I had as a child.  I decided I wanted to get my cricut out and make some for my kiddos.  There are so many options for lacing cards and I was thinking this is also a great birthday present as well as party favors for birthday parties.  Here are the steps I took to make my lacing cards:
Got my handy dandy cricut and the cutting up cartridge and cute paper:

Then I cut out a J and K for there names but thinking now I wish I just cut there name out so they could see their name in print..

I cut th letters and glued them on cardstock and traced around them with marker to define them alittle more.  Next I cut them out and put them in a laminating pouch and laminated them using my yourstory from provo craft- which I found on sale for $34 at Walmart. Otherwise I would of taken them to get laminated. 

This was the first time I used this so didn't push all the air bubbles out so it got a little wrinkled on the way out

Next you cut them out and punch holes around them. Take a shoe lace and lace or you can use a piece of yarn with tape around the end.  So while I was doing this I thought how cool to repurpose the valentine cards the kids got from their great grandmother "Nanny".  So I cut the card in half and glued the writing part on the back and laminated it.

Punch holes and play. 

For the dinosaur lacing card I used the paper doll cartridge.  I drew the design by removing the blade and using the cricut marker then replacing and cutting out the image.