A love to create

And the winner of the digital scrapbooking software is....

2011-10-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

#4 Connie

Congratulations to Connie! Please email me your email address to trinajo5@hotmail.com and I will send you the information to receive the free software!

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

My Memories Digital Scrapbooking GIVEAWAY!!

2011-10-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

I am going to be giving away a free copy of the digital scrapbooking software from My Memories!

This is an award winning digital scrapbook software that is extremely easy and fun to use. My Memories Suite is rated #1 by Amazon and TopTen Reviews. Using this software, anyone can create digital scrapbooks, photobooks, cards, calendars and gifts without having to buy expensive and complicated software programs.

Also, as a special for all of my readers, you can use this Share the Memories code STMMMS811158 that provides a $10 discount off the purchase of the My Memories Suite Scrapbook software and a $10 coupon for the MyMemories.com store - $20 value!)

Giveaway Rules-

*go to the My Memories website and choose your favorite digital paper pack or layout, then comment telling me which one you would chose.

For additional entries-

*like My memories on their face book page by clicking Here

* visit the My memories blog and leave a comment on there saying where you heard about them

Good luck! I will pick the lucky winner in one week!!!

Stuffed animal blanket

2011-09-23T09:02:00.000-07:00

My good friend just had a baby and I wanted to make her something cute.
I was in Porters and saw these darling stuffed animal blankets and thought I would give it a try!

The hardest part was finding a stuffed animal that you were willing to murder...in cold blood!!

This really did feel wrong!!
For a great tutorial on cutting animals and if you want to see how to make this into a scarf go Here!

After you cut your animal in half, take out some of the stuffing and pin it inside your blanket. Remember to put your fabric wrong side out, and leave several inches to turn it right side out once your blanket it sewn all the way around.

And now you have a darling stuffed animal blanket!

Hello...Hello...

2011-09-15T07:35:00.001-07:00

So, I know I have been lame and haven't been posting anything in a long time! I just haven't been in the mood to blog, but of coarse I am still crafting like crazy! I think I have like 100 things to post, but I just am too lazy to post them, or maybe it is because I have a million things going on in my life right now!! We are SOOO busy! Anyway, I am going to take a break from blogging for awhile, and maybe I will get another burst of energy and will start blogging like crazy again....I don't know!! I just need to hire someone to blog for me! I will make the crap...I mean craft...and then they can blog it for me!! Now that would be awesome!! Anyway, I thought I would warn you that I am taking a break so you are not just left hanging!! I am working on some cool stuff, and I promise to post it when I am done though!!

But for now, I will give you something cute to look at!

Over at Ruffles and Stuff she has a great tutorial on these adorable lollipop shirts!!

My 4 year old daughter looked at these and told me she wants one!!!
I want one too!!

Halloween Chandelier

2011-09-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

I love this Halloween Chandelier!

I just can't believe that it is already time for Halloween decorations, but I must make one of these!! Also, I thought about making a baby girl version for my daughter's room!

Halloween Chandelier

You can check out the tutorial out Here!

Ideas for decorating with pumpkings

2011-08-26T12:42:00.001-07:00

I ran onto these darling ideas for decorating with pumpkins! I can't believe it is almost fall!
I LOVE fall!!! I love summer, but I think fall is my favorite!
I love the fall colors and the excitement of the holidays right around the corner!

I got all these pictures from the Better Home and Garden website!!

Love em!!

This one is my absolute FAVORITE!!
It is a nylon wrapped around the pumpkin!
How clever!!

So cute!

I love this wreath!

Now I can't wait to buy pumpkins!

Book Art

2011-08-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have seen a lot of these picture frames lately and they are growing on me! I love how simple and cute they are!

Check out how Emily took some old book pages and turned them into these darling frames!

New uses for old books

I guess I am going to be trying this out soon!

Mason Jar Lanterns

2011-07-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was taking a break and I still am, but I ran across these darling

Mason Jar lanterns

and I couldn't resist posting about it!

I was totally going to do something like this is summer, but never got to it!
Along with a million different ideas I have that I never do!

I absolutely love the way these turned out!

I didn't want to do this....

2011-07-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

I really didn't want to do this post, actually I have put it off for several days now,
but I have to do it!

I am taking a little break!

I have been having some health issues that are making it super hard for me to craft and blog right now...which I will explain later!

So, I think I will take a few weeks off, but this is not goodbye!

Please keep following me, just be patient, I will return!

And here is a pretty picture to end this post with!

The Ruffle headband

2011-07-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

While browsing around pinterest, I happened onto these adorable ruffle headbands.
I love anything that has ruffles or is for your hair!

The Ruffle Headband tutorial

So cute, I can't wait to try this!

Temple blocks

2011-07-11T15:55:00.000-07:00

I made these temple blocks for Christmas presents last year....yes you heard me right,
I am just getting around to posting it!

I found this awesome tutorial, and you can use the pictures that she has already!!!
They are super easy!

I just printed the pictures at Costco, mod-podged them on a already painted wood block and added some ribbon!

So cute!

Clever Art with Paper Scraps

2011-07-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

I found this awesome idea Here.
All it is is some small canvas boards, paper, and mod podge!

I love it!!
This is so do-able!!

Sponge Balls

2011-07-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I saw these somewhere.....I honestly can't remember where!
But my kids have had so much fun with them!

They LOVE to have water fights and this is the perfect way to have one!

So you start with some sponges, I later bought some from the dollar store that worked great, and cut them into strips.

Then I took some yard and tied it around the middle of the sponges and double knotted it!And there you have a sponge ball!

So easy and fun for the kids!!!

4th of July tutu

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love these cute little tutu's and decided to make a red white
and blue one for the 4th of July!

If you want a tutorial on how to make it you can check out my rainbow tutu tutorial Here

My other daughter wanted a piece of the tutu action too!!

She was totally not cooperating in these pictures, and she was not happy with me.
You see my pertty blue flowers there she is sitting next to...well, she was so mad that I was taking a picture of her, that she grabbed a handful and ripped them out!
Naughty baby!!

4th of July outfit!

2011-06-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

I made this 4th of July outfit for my daughter last year actually, so I don't have a tutorial on it.

It was super easy though.

I just took a love sleeve shirt and cut of the sleeves then made some bias out of the star knit and sewed it around the arm holes.
And added 3 strips of ruffles to the front.

For the skirt:

I just made a simple skirt and added a ruffle to the bottom.
So easy!

I think it turned out cute!

I had to add this picture, I think she had the cutest profile ever!!

Happy 4th of July!

Home-ade playdough

2011-06-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

We love playdough at our house! It entertains my kids for hours...okay nothing entertains them for hours, but for awhile anyway!

This is before we added the food coloring!

Play dough recipe:

Mix together dry ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1 cup salt
4 tsp. cream of tarter

add 2 cups of boiling water, 4 T. oil, and 1 tsp. food coloring.

pour liquids into the dry ingredients and stir well. When slightly cooled, knead for a few minutes until smooth.

(I had to add quite a bit more flour so it wasn't so sticky, just play around with it)

This is just an easy idea for a gift!
Add some cookie cutters and you have the perfect inexpensive gift that every kid loves!
We gave this set to a nephew on his birthday!

4th of July banner

2011-06-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make a banner for a long time and finally did the other day!
This is no way my original idea, but I still wanted to try!

I love how it turned out and the best part was it took just a few minutes!

First I figured out how long I wanted my triangles and cut a strip

Then cut into triangles

Then I just hot glued the triangles onto my ribbon, and that is all!
Soooo easy!!!

I also took some of the left over fabric and tied strips around my candles.

Now we are a little more patriotic!!

Cute 4th of July decorations!

2011-06-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned, I love the 4th of July and while browsing around I found these darling decorations over at The Happy Scraps

4th of July Decorations

So cute and easy!!

I really am heading out of town tonight!! I just can't stop blogging!!!

Happy birthday to me!

2011-06-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Guess what! Yep, you guessed it! It is my birthday today!!
And I am the big 30!!!!
So, I am taking the day off, and maybe the next few,
because we are partying and heading out of town!

See ya in a few!!!

My crafty little daughter!

2011-06-21T13:21:00.000-07:00

I was so proud of my daughter Megan! She is a mini me!
She loves doing crafts and this Father's day she told me she had this great idea she wanted to make for her dad.
So we went to the dollar store and she picked out a few things, went home and I helped her spray paint the pot and the rest she did all by her self!
I think it actually turned out pretty cute!!
So proud!!

Super easy 4th of July decor!!!

2011-06-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted something for my front door for the 4th of July,
so I whipped this together in maybe 10 minutes!

I was at Joann's browsing around the other day and saw these 4th of July gummy things. (They are the things you stick in your window) Anyway, they were 60% off, so I grabbed them.

I got home and found this old frame that I had stored away and threw thing window clings on it, then added some ribbon and it was done!!!

I love it!!
And the best part about it was, it cost me maybe $3, and took maybe 10 minute...and that is pushing it!!

I absolutely LOVE the 4th of July!!!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T10:03:00.001-07:00

Source

source

Star wars Father's day gift idea

2011-06-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

I ran onto this darling idea for a Father's day present!
We totally love Star Wars in our house, this would have been so funny to do for my husband!
You can find the tutorial over at Sandy Toes and Popsicles!!

So funny! You could totally use these ideas for a Star Wars birthday party!! Score!!

My Father's day gift!

2011-06-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my gift for my father-in-law!
I love how it turned out!
Every man loves a BBQ basket!! Right???

Here is how I did the apron.
I used my silhouette and the heat transfer on it!
Super easy!

I got my idea from UCreate!!!

re-purposing: Long sleeve shirt to soccer shirt

2011-06-16T08:49:00.000-07:00

I know I am on a sewing, re-purposing kick lately!
But I am slowly trying to make my way through my stash!

This was a super easy way of taking a long sleeve shirt and making it into a short sleeve,
then I just added the soccer ball with my silhouette using heat transfer.

I think I paid $1.00 for these shirts at Walmart in the early spring!
I love to stock up when they are on clearance!

I cute the sleeves off where I wanted them to be.

Then I cut a strip off the top of both of the sleeves (the sleeves I just cut off)

fold in length wise and pin all the way around

Then I slid the circle part I just made on top of the sleeve with raw edges together!
Does that make sense???

a closer look!!

then sew all the way around the sleeve, and you can iron it down to give it a more crisp look!

Now you have short sleeves!!! Awesome!

Then I added the soccer ball using my silhouette and heat transfer.
For more info on the heat transfer you can follow my steps Here

The best part about it is she loves it!!!

cupboard door art desk

2011-06-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

I came across this darling idea over at icandy handmade!
She took a cupboard door and made these darling art desks from it!

Cupboard door art desks

Now I wish I would have saved the cupboard doors off of my old bathroom set when we re did our bathroom! Dang it!

Re-purposing: Dress to ruffle shirt

2011-06-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

Another re-purposing post! I have been in the mood to sew I guess!
This has been my favorite so far though!

My mother in law was getting rid of some clothes,
and let me look through the bag before it went to the D.I.
and there was this dress that looked hardly worn.
The wheels started turning....
and this is what I came up with!

So first of all I cut off the bottom and had to take it in.
After I cut several inches off I turned it inside out and pinned it where I wanted to take it in.

Then on the seams I did a zigzag stitch to give it the surged look!

Then from the part I cut off, I cut it into strips,
then sewed the strips together and made ruffles out of it.
Then sewed the ruffles all the way around the neck and down the front!

Here is the back view!

I love how it turned out...now I have to do one for myself!!

Re-purposing: Shirt to Cardigan

2011-06-11T07:06:00.000-07:00

I have a HUGE stash of clothes that I don't wear anymore, but don't want to give away (Heaven's no)...and have an idea of what I want to do with every single last one of em!!

But they have sat in a pile for months....and months....

But I am proud to say this week I have gotten several of them done...this being one of them.

I took this plain Jane, black, long sleeve shirt and cut it right down the middle!

If you couldn't picture that...well here is a picture to show you!

Then I took this other black polo shirt that I haven't worn in months...maybe years and cut it up!

I cut it in strips, starting from the bottom...oh and I saved the top part, because yes, I have a plan for it too! Waste not...want not....
I sewed all those strips together and then ruffled them by sewing a large basting stitch at the top and pulling the bottom thread to create ruffles.
I did it in about 2 foot increments. Don't try and sew it all the way down and think you can pull that bottom thread for the whole thing...won't work! I have learned this the hard way!

With what I had left over in ruffles I made this flower and pinned it on!

I HATE modeling...and I think all my neighbors think I am weird...or vain. I feel funny having my daughter take pictures of me, I am sure they think I am so vain!

I do love how it turned out though...even if my husband said I look like I am going to play in a concert...what a weirdo! :)

Ice cream in a bag, jello ice cream and more!!

2011-06-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

More fun things to do this summer!

We made ice cream in a bag, and it turned out so yummy!!
You have to try this with your kids...they would love it!!

It is so easy!

Ice cream in a bag

1 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp vanilla
3 cups crushed ice
1 gallon size Ziploc bags
2 sandwich size Ziploc bags
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup rock salt

In one of the small Ziploc baggies, mix together the milk, vanilla and sugar. Add additional toppings if desired (for chocolate ice cream, use chocolate milk). Squeeze excess air from the baggie and zip baggie tight. Double check for a tight seal. Place this bag in second sandwich baggie and close bag, also squeezing excess air from the bag. Then place the ice and rock salt (we used table salt and it worked) in the gallon sized bag and place your small bag in it and start shaking. It takes about 5 minutes! Enjoy!

This is another awesome idea!

Easy homemade ice cream from Jello

You can find the recipe Here

I had to throw this in just because it looked so good! I love ice cream!!

Source

More fun things we have done this summer!

Peanut butter Playdough

2011-06-09T13:50:00.000-07:00

More Kid Fun!!

Honestly my kids loved this!!!

It has kept them entertained for...well...awhile!!

They loved this...not only is it fun to play with, but it tastes good too!!
This is an old recipe that my mom use to make when I was a kid!

Recipe:

1 c. creamy peanut butter
1 1/4 c. dry milk
1 c. light corn syrup
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar

Blend peanut butter and syrup in large mixing bowl. Sift dry milk and powdered sugar together and all at once. Mix all together with a spoon, then with hands, knead in dry ingredients. Use as you would any play dough and you can eat it too!

Hand print quilt

2011-06-08T07:20:00.000-07:00

I am going to veer away from this weeks theme of fun kids summer ideas
because I happened onto this super fun quilt idea!

Hand Print Quilt Teacher gift idea

Mandy over at Sugar Bee Crafts did this hand print quilt for her daughters teacher!
It has all of the kids hand prints from their class!
She is more ambitious than I am!!!

Sooo cute!

Strawberry sprinkles

2011-06-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

Another thing that we have done that my kids absolutely
loved was dipping strawberries in white chocolate and sprinkles.

You could dip them in regular chocolate as well, and use any kind of sprinkles.

The nice thing about this is they get a serving of fruit while doing this!!
(a serving of sugar too)

More kid fun tomorrow!!

Summer activities for kids!!

2011-06-06T07:48:00.000-07:00

This week I will be posting some fun things to do with your kids since it is summer break!
If your kids are like mine,
the more things you have to do with them...the less you hear them fight!!

My girls really like to do crafts,
so I am going to try and be a better mother
and spend more time doing fun things this sumer!!

This is a fun craft to do with them.

supplies:
Paper
water colors
water
tissue paper
a straw
glue

The first thing you do is get your paint brush fairly wet and dab a good amount of paint at the bottom of your paper.

Then take your straw and blow the paint up...making your tree or flower stem

Then take some glue and dab it where you want your leaves or flowers to go

Then wad up a small amount of tissue paper and stick it on the glue!
Your kids will love it!

My daughter did this one, and I thought it was so cute...and creative!

another idea for a tree...

This is my favorite...think of how darling this would be in the fall with orange, brown, yellow and red!!!

I will see you tomorrow with more fun summer activities to do with your kids!!

Batman Cape

2011-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember the super hero cape I made a couple of weeks ago for my nephew??
If not you can check it out Here

Well, my son really wanted a cape too, and he has some batman pjs that were missing a cape, so I decided to make one to fit them.

Here are the pajamas....minus the cape.

I took my material and laid it over the pjs marked where I wanted the cape to go.

Then I cut out two identical pieces and sewed them together...set aside.

I turned the pj's over and traced the bat onto some tracing paper and cut it out.

Then I pinned it to some black felt.
I chose felt because it doesn't fray

Then I cut out an oval out of yellow felt and sewed the black onto the yellow, and then I zig zagged the yellow onto the back of the cape.
Then add some Velcro onto the corners of the cape making sure it matches up to the Velcro on the pjs.

My baby actually loved it as well.

I took a piece of black ribbon and added some velcro to it, so they can still wear the cape without the pjs.

A super easy batman cape!!!

Makes a happy little boy!!!

Beadboard Flag

2011-06-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Brown Paper Packages, and fell in love with this project!

The Beadboard Flag

This is sooo cute! I want one...

More teacher gifts!

2011-06-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

I finally got my kid's teacher gift finished yesterday!
Our last day is today....none too soon!

I think they turned out pretty cute!

I made them these personalized supply containers.
I got my idea from Here

I stuffed them full with random supplies...and chocolate is always an essential!!

Then I took this Father's Day idea that I got from Here

and turned it into a teacher gift!

This was actually my favorite!
It is more personal...I had the kids write some of their favorite things about their teachers!

Have a great day...the sun is shining!!! HOORAY!!

End of the year teacher ideas!

2011-05-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

Many of you are probably out of school already, but we get out tomorrow.
So, I thought I would share some cute ideas that I have come across.

I will be posting my idea soon!!!

I love the chalk board paint on a Terra cotta pot!!

source

These tiles are super cute!

source

I was totally tricked into thinking this was a real cupcake....but it isn't!!

source

I love these fabric bookmarks!!

source

This is soooo adorable...and who doesn't like pie in a jar!!!

source

Check them all out, they are so cute!!

Memorial day weekend!

2011-05-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places to browse around is over at the Silhouette blog!
It has the BEST ideas! I love it.

They posted this awesome idea for a Mother's Day idea, but when I ran onto it I couldn't help but think it would be perfect for a loved one on memorial day!

I only wish I had a picture like this of my dad and myself.
I will have to start digging for a cute picture I could use!
I lost my dad a year ago, and miss him very much!

I just love this picture and the message it gives!
My parents have done so much for me!

I will never forget!!

You can find this tutorial Here

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
I am going to be visiting graves and spending time with family!

I will be back Tuesday!!

Super hero cape

2011-05-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Last week was my nephew's birthday and I wanted to make him something for it.
He, like all little boys, loves super hero's, so I thought I would make him a cape.
I already had some real nice heavy black fabric that I could use.

So, I went to work, and loved how it turned out!
So did my son (the model...by the way, he definitely needs modeling lessons, it was like pulling teeth to get these pictures!)

I found this awesome tutorial that I used over at Keeping it Simple!

So I started with just drawing on some printer paper a pattern for the neck piece.

I measured my son's shoulders and made the pattern 1/2 of the distance between his shoulders, since the fabric will be folded in half.

I folded my fabric in half, and cut it out. Make sure you measure how long you want your cape to be.

I cut out two pieces, because I didn't want any fraying.

Pin your pieces together and sew all the way around, making sure you leave about 5 inches open to turn it right sides out.
Once you have it turned right sides out, sew up your open part.

Then I added some Velcro on the straps.

I used my silhouette for the L star figure. I used the white heat transfer paper.
Make sure you mirror your image before you cut it on your heat transfer paper.
To mirror your image, just right click on the image and it will bring up the mirror option.
Once you have cut your image, peel off any excess paper you don't want ironed on.

Then stick your image on your cape where you want it

Make sure you cover with a cloth and iron for about 1 minute.

Then let it cool and peel off your plastic adhesive.

Whalaaa!! You have a personalized cape!!1

My son thinks this is very cool!
I think I will be making one with an "M" in the middle for him very soon!!

Now if I could just get him to model better! :)

Re-purposing: Turtle neck shirt to dress tutorial

2011-05-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to show you how I took an old turtle neck shirt of mine and turned it into a dress for my daughter.

So, if you have an old shirt and would like to give it a try....grab it and give it a shot!!

It is so fun to take something old and make something new!!

I forgot to take a picture before I started this lovely project many months ago, so it is already attached to the bottom, but you get the idea what it looks like!

Just a normal shirt...right?

I started off by cutting off the turtle neck part, leaving about 1/4 of an inch.

Then from the part that I cut off, I took it and folded the ends in and iron flat.

Then fold again and iron flat

Then I pinned it all the way around the neckline and sewed it with a straight stitch.

Now for the sleeves, I wanted to add something to the boring old sleeve.

I marked with a pin where the middle of the sleeve was.

Then to get the gathered look, I sewed a large straight stitch about 5 inches up.
(Make sure you don't back stitch on either end)

Then take your top thread and gently pull and it will gather as you pull.

Then when you get it as ruffled as you want, I tied off the strings, or you can sew on top of the gathered part to keep it in place.

Now for the bottom part, I took my material and hemmed up all the sides.

At the top I also did a gathering stitch and then attached it to the shirt.

Here is a great tutorial on this part!

After you sew the two pieces together it should look like this.

Then I added a waistband to it with left over material.

What a great way to use an old shirt!!!

Give it a try...you will be glad you did!

Rhinestone tutorial

2011-05-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

As promised, I am going to demonstrate how to do rhinestones with my silhouette.

I ordered the starter kit, which had all the supplies to do this.

I cut my shape on my template material and then placed it on my backing board.

Now I took my nifty little brush that came in my starter kit and spread out the rhinestones.

As you move your brush around in a circle motion, the rhinestones will go in the little holes.

Once you have them all in the holes, just brush off any excess.

Take your sticky transfer tape and carefully place it over your design.
This is the trickiest part...you have to do it fast, but carefully!

Then lift up your transfer tape with your rhinestone design in place.

Then I place it on this shirt and covered it with a cloth and placed my iron on it for about a minute.
Then I would carefully lift up a corner and make sure all the rhinestones were sticking good.

And that is how it is done!!!

Super fun!

Re-purposing: another turtle neck to dress

2011-05-24T08:50:00.000-07:00

I finally finished this dress that I started months ago for my daughter!
I am so ridiculous! I have projects everywhere half done!! It drives me crazy!!!

So I told myself I am not to buy anything for another project until all my half done projects are finished....we will see!!!

Remember this dress for my 4 year old!
The bottom of her skirt actually came from the top of the dress that I made for my 9 year old!! Does that make sense???

This actually started as a turtle neck shirt that i never wore....
and now we have 2 dresses from it!!!

I love the way it turned out...and my daughter was pleased, which lately is very hard to please her with clothes...pre-teen years!!!

You can't see in the pictures very good the front of the dress.

I did some more rhinestones...which I will demonstrate tomorrow!

Here is the back view of the dress!

Check back tomorrow for the tutorial on how to make this dress!!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

2011-05-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite recipe for freezer jam! It is so good! My family just loves it!!

Strawberry Freezer Jam

3 1/2 cups strawberries (crushed in a blender)
6 1/2 cups sugar
Stir together in large bowl until sugar is dissolved
Add 1/4 cup lemon juice, set aside.

Dissolve 1 package of pectin into 1 cup cold water. Bring to a boil in a small pan. Boil 1 full inute. Slowly stir into berry mixture. Continue to stir for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Memory blanket

2011-05-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was over at Tea Rose Home just browsing around....as I often do, and I came across this post about how she took her baby's clothes and made them into a memory blanket!!

I love it....what a genius idea! I have a huge stack of baby blankets, and I totally want to make one big blanket! Just one more thing to add to my to do list!!! :)

Tee-Pee zipper pouch

2011-05-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

I thought this was a genius idea that I found over at Trey and Lucy!

A cute little tee-pee bag for these Cowboy and Indian legos! What little boy wouldn't just love that!

Tee-Pee bag Tutorial

Isn't it so adorable!

Re-purposing: Turtle neck shirt to dress

2011-05-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have a child that refuses to wear turtle necks or long sleeves?

Well, my little 4 year old will not wear either of these...without a battle!

I hate to give all of her long sleeve shirts away, so I took one and made it into a dress...that she will wear!

The turquoise shirt came from another project that I am working on.
It was one of my old shirts!

I actually forgot to take a picture before I put on the rhinestones, and when I did it was a poor shot, but you get the idea!

I cut off the sleeves and made them short.

I will demonstrate in future posts how to do all of these techniques.

I decided to add a ruffle along the bottom of the dress. I think it added a lot!

Here is the neckline. I cut off the turtle neck and added some ruffles. I will show how to do these ruffles later this week!

Here is the rhinestones. I am so excited to show how to do this!!!

Now we have something she will wear...without the fight!!

The back view!!!

A great Father's Day idea!!

2011-05-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

Father's Day is coming up, and I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do.

I happened on to this fabulous idea over at Ucreate.

I love this, I might even try to do this this year! Go check it out Here, it is so cute!!!

Star Wars Birthday ideas

2011-05-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

My son turned 7 this last week, and so we did a birthday party for him on Saturday!

It was actually so much fun....and the weather couldn't have been more perfect!

I did a light saber out of cupcakes.

You can't really see, but the bottom 3 have grey frosting and the rest are green!

And these were a huge hit! They absolutely loved them!
I just took swimming noodles, cut them in half and wrapped black and silver duct tape around the bottom!

They had so much fun with them!!

We had a couple of surprise guests come and fight the Jedi nights!

The first was Darth Vader!!!

Very Scary!!

And the second guest was Yoda!!

Not quite as scary!!

I actually made this costume several years ago when my son was this size!

Then we did the Darth Vader pinada!!

The kids had a lot of fun doing different games with the light sabers.

We also played freeze tag with star wars stickers. The person that was it, had a sheet of stickers and if you got tagged with a sticker you had to freeze until another player pulled off your sticker!

So much fun!!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

2011-05-16T10:43:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe that my mom used to make for us when we were kids.

It is also a way to get your kids to eat a serving of vegetable and not know it!!

Sneaky...sneaky!!!

My son is super picky and he ate these!!

I made some sausage gravy and poured over the top of mine, but my husband thought that was weird, so he did a butter cinnamon mixture and poured over his....which I have to admit was really good!!

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 c. flour
3 t. baking powder
2/3 t. salt
4 T. shortening
1 c. cooked sweet potatoes (mashed)
1/3 c. milk

Cut shortening into flour, salt and baking powder which have been sifted together. Stir in sweet potatoes and add enough milk to make a dough stiff enough to roll. Roll on floured tombstone and cut with biscuit cutter. Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes.

I am totally lazy and didn't want to roll them out and cut them, so I added a little bit more milk and dropped them by spoonfuls onto my cookie sheet and baked them. And they turned out great!!!

Another safety pin necklace!!!

2011-05-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this safety pin necklace???
If not you can see how I made it Here

Well, I came up with another version of one!!
I love how easy and cheap these necklaces are!

They are really quite fun to make with kids....older kids!!

I love having my daughter model...takes the pressure off of me!!

Okay, so funny story, I first had my daughter take the picture...

and we looked at it and were scared!!!

This is totally a scary picture !!! She calmed my hair down and I tried not to open my eyes so much!!! :)
I little better, but I still like my daughter to be the model!!!

Friday Favorites

2011-05-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with this darling shadow box idea!
It looks relatively easy, and it is just so cute!

I just love Laura over at Live.Laugh.Photograph. So go check out how she makes this!! Awesome!

Meanwhile....I am working on learning this new machine! I just got it the other day! I am soooo excited about this purchase!

So much better than what I had!

So the next couple of days are devoted to this!!!

WHAHOOO!!!!

2011-05-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

I ordered this baby from Costco about a week ago...and it is here!!!!

I am so excited!!!
I can hardly wait to get this thing set up....so I am taking today and maybe tomorrow to mess around with this!!! So.....stay tuned!
Just think of all the stuff I can make with this!!!

I wanted to post this amazing deal I ran onto.....after mine was purchased.
It is also a brother sewing machine for $112!!!!

You can look at it Here!

I hope Brother is a good sewing machine...I will soon find out!

Teacher appreciation day!!!

2011-05-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and remembered it was Teacher appreciation day!

So since I have procrastinated getting something ready, I had about 10 minutes to throw something together.

It was Micah's birthday yesterday, so we had some donuts left over, so I threw this together!

I know it is nothing fabulous, but I tried to keep it simple....after my disaster birthday cake yesterday! More on that later!!!!

It made the kids happy, and hopefully it will get the point across to their teachers how much we appreciate all they do!!!

Spring dress

2011-05-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

First of all.....Happy belated Mother's day!!!

Sorry about the lack of posts, but we had a super busy weekend with family! A lot going on!!!

Here is the easiest dress you will ever make!

I was in Joann's the other day and happened on this darling fabric. It is all pre-hemmed and shirred. The draw back is the price. It is sold by the inch. So make sure you use a coupon on it!!

My youngest daughter fell in love with this Dora material! It was super hard to cut it because every time I laid it flat she would grab it! I guess I will have to make one for her too!!

Here it is before I did anything to it! It is almost done when you get it! It is so simple!

I sewed it up the back and added some ribbon for the straps and that is about all!

Here it is after I sewed up the back, but before I added straps.

I seriously sewed this dress in about 15 minutes, from start to finish!

I think it was a big hit!

I was in trouble for not getting the Tangled one too!
Next coupon!!!

How cute!! I just love being a mom!!!

Mother's day card

2011-05-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a mother's day card, and I saw this cute idea over on the silhouette blog!

And you know how much I love my silhouette, and I use it every chance I can get!

I love how it turned out!

The only thing I did different is I filled in some of the design.
I really like how it made it pop!

Mother's day subway art

2011-05-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I actually made this last year....for myself...because lets face it, my husband is never going to do something like this!

Plus, a mother has got to toot her own horn once in awhile!!

So, anyway, I have searched and searched and can't find the subway art that I used last year, but I did find a printable for another one that is equally as good!!!

So don't hate me, I really did try to find it, and if by chance the person who did this darling printable is reading this blog, let me know and the credit is yours!!!

Here is the free printable for Mother's day subway art!

Anyway, it was super easy!

All I did was added scrapbook paper, ribbon and a fabric flower! You could just put it in a frame also!

Baby bib and burp cloth

2011-05-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

My sister in law had a baby boy, and I wanted to make her some bibs and burp cloths.

One thing I hate about burp cloths, is that it seams like the spit up doesn't absorb into the fabric very good.

So I wanted to add terry cloth to one side of it.

I bought a white towel at Ross, and was able to make several out of it.

I used one that I already had as a pattern

Now I have two pieces of fabric cut out

Then turn the fabrics right sides together and sew all the way around, leaving an opening on one end...a couple of inches open.

Now sew up the opening and I actually sewed all the way around it, about 1/2 inch in.
Just to make sure it doesn't go anywhere!

Ta-Da! Super easy!!

Now for the burp cloth!

I used one already that I had for a pattern

Now you have the front and back

Now, I really wanted to make this easy on me, so I just placed the two pieces together, WRONG sides together. So, you don't have to turn this inside out.

I just sewed all the way around, leaving about 3/4 inch, so I could make it into a rag big.

I added my velcro!

Then just take your scissors and clip little slits all the way around, making sure you don't clip too close to your stitches. Then I threw it in the wash to give it a nice rag look!

That is all....so fast and simple and makes a super great baby shower gift!

Mother's Day is coming up!!!

2011-05-02T08:56:00.000-07:00

I was looking for some cute mother's day ideas to share and I happened onto some amazing ideas!

First this darling tea towel cake tutorial @ Aly & Ash

This would be perfect for Mother's day

This is such a sweet gift! I would love to get one of these my kids picture in it!
Wouldn't this be the perfect gift for Grandma!

Find out how to make it here

Does this apron look familiar?
Yes, this is a set of hot pads and apron that I made. I thought this would be a good Mother's day idea as well!

You can find it Here

I love this oven mit idea!
Find out how to make them Here

I made some of these about a year ago for myself and my mother in law and they are so nice!

I have never gotten around to blogging about them, but I found an awesome tutorial over at
AGAAGG

So go check it out!!
So hopefully this gives you some ideas for your special Mother is Mother's day!!!

Voting on open!!

2011-05-01T14:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, the voting started today over at Vintage Revivals!

If you haven't checked it out, you can click Here!

I am so excited and totally hope I am one of the lucky 15!!!

If you would....PLEASE go vote for my room! I desperately need help with this one!
I just know Mandi could make this room so much more exciting, for my daughter, than I can!

I am #88
Here is the {link}
So go over there and click on the little yellow start under this picture here, and vote for me!

Please....really....go vote for this picture right up there!!!!

Click Here

Thanks so much!!!

Chore Chart ideas

2011-04-30T12:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea over on the Silhouette blog, and I fell in love with this chore chart! I think it is so cute! I might have to buy some of this magnetic paper and try some thing like this!

Click Here for the full tutorial

Summer break is coming and if your like me, you have to gear up for it! It is so hard to suddenly have all the kids home at once!! So much fighting and so many kids home......aaahhhh!!

Just kidding....I do look forward to having my kids home, but I also have to have some sort of chart for them to do chores or I am nagging constantly.

So, if you haven't checked out my idea on a chore chart, you can find it Here

If you have a chore chart I would LOVE to see it! Send a picture to trinajo5@hotmail.com and I will feature it on my blog!!

Thanks!!

Vintage Revivals giveaway!

2011-04-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so first of all can I say that I found the most awesomest giveaway over at Vintage Revivals!
Mandi is offering herself....might I add she is so amazing....to come to the winners house and redo one room for them!

How totally sweet of her!!

Check it out HERE

I first wanted to show some of her awesome work she has done!

Just look at this room...it is sooo cute! I love it!
And she did it all!!!

I debated whether or not to enter, not because I don't want her to come, but because I have to show you my worst room in my house! So embarrassing!!!

This is my guest bedroom, as well as my craft room!

It is in huge need of a redo!

My oldest daughter has decided that sharing a room with her 4 year old sister is not what she wants anymore, so she wants to move into my craft room :(

So here it is in all it's glory....yes it really is this bad!!

I know I will have to move all my crap out, and place it some where else, but I totally need help making this the dream room she wants!!!

I need Mandi!!! HELP ME!

That dresser is so full of crafts, under the bed is full of crafts, that big blue container is chuck full of fabric, the closet is full of crafts....this room is so full of to-do's!!!

This is so embarrassing....I only am posting this out of desperation!!!!
I want to win!!

My daughter has found some pictures out of the Pottery barn magazine...which is so addicting...and she wants some thing like this!!

I can't do it alone!!

So please come and vote for me over Here

It would be so fun to have Mandi come and do this for me!
I want it bad!!!!

Voting starts tomorrow at midnight I believe!! So go vote for me!!!

More freezer meals!!!

2011-04-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

I hope that you are enjoying doing freezer meals!
This time wasn't quite as bad...maybe a little better planning!

I promise I will get back to crafts soon! Just think of how much more time I can spend crafting now with all these wonderful meals in my freezer!!! :)

These are chicken enchiladas
My personal favorite! I smother them in green enchilada sauce and cheese!!

Chicken Ole

This is an awesome recipe! We love it!

Garlic Ranch Chicken
This is such a good recipe and so quick and easy!!

Tater tot casserole

This is my own recipe

Tater tot casserole

1 lb. hamburger (browned and add taco seasoning)

1 can corn
1 can Nacho Cheese (add a little milk)
1 bag tater tots
cheddar cheese

Mix first 3 ingredients and spread in a 9x13 dish
Spread your tater tots over the top
Sprinkle cheese over the tots

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 min or until the tater tots are nice and crispy.

Meat loaf, bean and cheese burritos, and broccoli and rice casserole

2011-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I hope if you are joining me in doing these freezer meals, you are having a good experience.

I made up some meatloaves and put them in gallon bags for a quick meal!

Then I did some more burritos.

I decided to do some Bean and cheese burritos for the kids

I just did re-fried beans and cheese.

The one in the picture below, I did add some black beans to it.
You can add just about whatever you like!

For this broccoli and rice casserole recipe click below
Broccoli and Rice casserole

Oh, this is going to be so nice to have all these meals in my freezer!!!!

I will have more tomorrow!

Lasagna and breakfast burritos!

2011-04-26T07:00:00.001-07:00

I have made my menu and also I cooked my meat last night.
I filled my crock-pot with as much chicken breasts as I could fit and added a little water and cooked on low for 8 hours, then shredded it.

For my ground beef, I took about 5 pounds of ground beef and browned it in a big pot.
So, now I am already with my meats!

I also did a big thing of sausage, because I like to add some to my lasagna, and also I did breakfast burritos.

Now my meats are all ready for this undertaking!!!

The first thing I did was Lasagna.

I made my lasagnas in foil pans, and then used plastic wrap and then foil over the top of the plastic wrap.

Then I moved onto my breakfast burritos.
These are my favorite thing to have in the freezer. Such an easy breakfast!

I tore quite a few pieces of foil, then laid down my tortilla, then layered sausage, rice, black beans, eggs and cheese.

Then fold up your tortilla and wrap it in foil and then I put them in gallon sized bags.

I did a lot of breakfast burritos!
They are so nice in the morning! You can take one out and microwave it for about 1 1/2 minutes, add some sour cream and salsa and your done!!

Love it!

Check back tomorrow for some more freezer meal ideas!!!

Freezer Meals....

2011-04-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great Easter! We enjoyed having family over! It is always fun to get together with family!

This week I am going to dedicate this week to doing freezer meals!

I tried doing freezer meals a couple of months ago, and I swore I would never do it again!!!
I have to admit, the few days that I did it was HECK!!!!

But....totally worth it!
It was so nice on those busy days, that you have absolutely no time to cook, to know that there is something in the freezer that you can just pop right in the oven and whallaaaa!
Dinner served!!!
And the best part is hardly no clean up!

So, this week I am going to attempt this again, because we are all out and I have been fixing dinner every night and frankly I hate it.

So bite the bullet with me and lets do these freezer meals together!!!

I got most of my meal ideas from Fabulously Frugal. She has an awesome guide on how to do this and tons of ideas!!!!

Today, I encourage you to make your menu, decide what you want to do first and then make your shopping list.
One of the hardest things was to go shopping! I spend a lot of money, but I know this will last us for a lot of meals!

You will not regret this....when it is all done and you are enjoying it in a week anyway!!!

If you really want to make it easy on yourself, they have made the menu and your shopping list Here!!

Oh, and I usually make a huge batch of bread and make bread sticks, rolls, and french bread and freeze them.
Also, I like to make cookies, muffins, waffles, pancakes and keep them frozen as well, for fast and easy breakfasts!

And last of all, if you want to watch a video that might inspire you a little, Hip2save has a fabulous video you can watch, just click Here!

Also she did a great video Here, that I LOVE the casserole she shows here and the Mexican rice!!
Go check them out!

So get ready to start tomorrow!!!!

Burlap, Twine, and fabric covered eggs!

2011-04-22T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to do this for forever and I finally just got it done.
I saw the cutest eggs over at The DIY show off, and it gave me the motivation to get mine done!

Supplies:
styrofoam eggs
strips of burlap
strips of fabric
jute or twine
hot glue gun
basket
ribbon

I took my styrofoam eggs and started hot gluing the twine in a circle

I took some left over burlap that I had and cut it into strips

Then start hot gluing the strips on the eggs

I did the same thing with the fabric.

Here they are all done!

I took an old basket (that I had stashed away in my many to-do projects) and took some thick white ribbon and hot glued the ribbon around the top of the basket.

Then I added some filler (I don't know what else to call it)
I buy it at the dollar store...it is in the craft section.

Then add your eggs and I through in some baby's breath.
I love how it turned out!

Perfect for spring!!

Cutest easter dessert!!

2011-04-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

I am hosting Easter at my house this year...which means I will have a house full of people!
I was looking for some cute ideas to do and happened onto these! I thought they were super cute and not too complicated (which I love).

I found them over at Brown Paper Packages so you have to go check them out!
She has an awesome blog...one of my all time favorites!

Since I have a super busy weekend ahead, I am going to take it off. I have a post ready for tomorrow and I will be back Monday.

So I hope you all have a great Easter!!!

Teacher appreciation gifts

2011-04-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

I had someone request some ideas for Teacher appreciation gift ideas. I hope this helps!
I think there are some amazing ideas out there and I hope this might spark some creativity!

I found this darling fish idea, the chocolate bar and the root-beer idea from Tip Junkie.
I think they are all so cute and pretty simple.
Plus, who doesn't like food!!

You can find all these ideas Here or just click on any picture!

Okay so this idea is super cute too! She has 3 different printables for the label and they are all this darling! I love candy...what can I say!
You can find the printable Here

Here is a darling idea that I might actually try this year. I have some coupons for Joanns so I might go get some of these little plastic containers. It is such a darling idea.
Go check it out Here...you won't be sorry!!!

Here is another cute idea, and a free printable! I love that....it makes it so easy!!
The card says, "Thanks for making our year so bright."
My mom's a teacher and she said she loves to get supplies, so I thought this was perfect!
You can find it Here

Here is another free printable, if you like these cute bookmarks!
Just click here and you can print and be done!!!

This is another super cute idea and so simple. I like fast and easy!
And who doesn't like mints!!!
Click Here

I thought this crayon frame idea is so cute, cheap, and simple. You could put a saying where the picture goes, something like #1 Teacher.
You can find the full tutorial Here

I hope this helps...good luck with your gifts. I would love to see anything you come up with!!!

Wash rag bunnies

2011-04-19T12:09:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, we would always go to my Grandma's house on Easter morning, and she would make a little wash rag bunny for all the grand kids!

Now that we are all grown and don't gather at my Grandma's house for Easter, everyone has started to come here for Easter dinner....so I thought it would be fun to give all the kids one of these cute wash rag bunnies for old time sake!

Just lay your cloth down....like so....

Next, start rolling at a diagonal to the middle

Then roll the other side to meet in the middle

Then take it in your hand and fold in half

Then take the part end that will be the ears and fold it back

Then I take it in one hand and hold it tight so I can fit the ribbon around the head

Then take your ribbon, or tulle, and tie it around what will be your head

This is what it should look like...if you can follow my directions!

Then add your eyes and nose

And if you want a tail too!

They really are super easy and very inexpensive to make!

Oh, and you can stick an Easter egg full of candy in the body part to make it extra fun for the kids!!!!

Easter week!

2011-04-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

So we are super excited for Easter at my house!
My 4 year old Brooke is asking every day how many more days until Easter, so this week I am going to post lots of Easter ideas!

I thought these fabric Easter eggs were a perfect way to start the week!
I absolutely love this idea!

You can find the whole tutorial at Retro Mama!

Happy Easter week!!

My painting!

2011-04-17T10:54:00.000-07:00

While I was trying to take a picture of my painting, my daughter kept saying cheese...wanting her picture taken. And of coarse I had to take a picture of this cute little face!!!

I have always loved to paint and draw, and one year for Christmas many years ago, I decided to paint a picture for my dad. He loves horses, so I chose a western style painting.

I think it turned out alright, and I keep meaning to paint again, but you know how life goes! I think he thought it was wonderful.....you know how parents are!!! It meant a lot to him, and since then, he has passed away, so now it means a lot to me! I will always think of my dad when I see this painting!

Friday Favorites

2011-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

This week I must have been hungry! So many of these are food...but they looked too good!

I have made these flowers before...but they never turned out this cute!
See how to make them here

This is such a cute idea! My kids totally want to try this!

This wreath is just too cute!

These are such a cute idea...plus cad-berry eggs are to die for
you can find it here

Check out the recipe for these Jell-O Easter egg cookies!

I love these! They look so good! What a great idea!]
check it out Here

I absolutely love this Easter hair clip! It is super cute!!

72 hour kits

2011-04-14T09:10:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, I have been thinking a lot about preparedness. Our church suggests having a 72 hour kit prepared for emergencies or disasters. I did some for us several years ago, but we took all the food out and never replaced it, and all the clothes were way too small for all my kids...not to mention I had another child.

So this week....on top of doing our bathrooms, I took the project on.

This is one of the packs for my kids. When I had my last baby, all of my kids got these cute little sling backpacks from the hospital...I saved them and they worked perfect for this project!

Here is the food menu I followed
This is for one person

Day 1
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Granola Bar, Hot chocolate
Lunch: Jerky, Apple Cider, Fruit Roll-up
Supper: canned soup, crackers
snacks: candy (I did sweedish fish)

Day 2
Breakfast: Oatmeal, half a cup of trail mix, hot chocolate
Lunch: Jerky, granola bar, cider
supper: soup, crackers
snacks: candy, fruit roll up

Day 3
Breakfast: oatmeal, trail mix
lunch: cup of noodles, crackers
supper: 2 granola bars, fruit roll up
snacks: half a cup of trail mix, candy

keep in mind that this is not going to be super filling meals, it is only to sustain you until you can get to better facilities.

In each pack:
1 blanket
a pair of sweats
2 liters of water
food
underwear and socks

And then we had a bucket with the things that the whole family would need.

Battery Lighting (Flashlights, Lamps, etc.) Don't forget batteries!

Extra Batteries
Flares
Candles
Lighter
Water-Proof Matches
cash
Radio (with batteries!)
Pen and Paper
Pocket Knife
Rope

Personal Supplies and Medication
trash bags
first aid kit
dishes
tissues
toilet paper
hand sanitizer
shampoo
toothbrushes and toothpaste

You can Google this and there is tons of information out there!

This is all of our kits
I hope this helps and encourages you to be prepared! You never know when something disastrous will happen...hopefully never!

My canvas art...in the bathroom

2011-04-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

So, as promised, I am going to show how I made these canvases for my bathroom.

They were so easy!

I actually had purchased these canvases for another project that I had in mind, but this idea popped in my head....it was so nice actually to already have some on hand! That is what happens when you are a craft hoarder!!!

I started out painting them tan....didn't like it.....then baby poop brown...still didn't like it...then dark brown....and I liked it!

In this picture you can still see the many shades of brown it was!

Then add your vinyl!
I absolutely love my silhouette.....I love it almost as much as a child....all most!!!
Speaking of my silhouette...the other day my littlest child pulled it off of the table...oh my heck....I came unglued!!! It was all right...but man....I thought someone took my heart and just ripped it out of my chest! Don't mess with my silhouette!!!!!!

Then I put a layer of this sparkle stuff on.....I like it, but the man of the house didn't...he doesn't like sparkles! Come on!!!

I love how they turned out! Even in their sparkling state!!!

Bathroom remodel

2011-04-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

We have been busy remodeling our bathroom this week!
I absolutely love to redo things in our house....the only problem is, is that it is sooo expensive, but totally worth it!

I mean look at how ugly this bathroom is!!!!

I can't even stand to look at these pictures....that is how bad I hated it!

Before pictures:

I am almost embarrassed to show this mirror! Can you believe we were living with it half broken down?

First of all my good husband re-textured the whole thing, then the paint went up!

Here is the old vanity set on the porch...this picture is right before it found it's new home....at the dump!!!

Oh....I hate this thing!

Now, is the time to reveal the new bathroom.....

Ta Da!!!

Here it is!

I just love how it turned out! It just has a whole new feel to it!

Isn't that mirror much better???

I will demonstrate how I did these cute little wall hangings later this week!!!

And now onto the next project!!! The doors! Oh boy!

Taco braid

2011-04-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

My kids love this recipe!
It is so good and simple!

I used my bread recipe found Here
Roll out your dough
Spread a can of refried beans down the middle
Then spread taco meat over the beans
and then spread cheese over the taco meat

Cut slits in the dough, on the sides and lay them over the meat mixture, making it look like a braid!
Bake it for about 25 minutes.
Serve with sour cream, tomatoes, olives, cilantro...whatever toppings you like!

Spring decorating ideas

2011-04-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, first of all, I am soooo sick of winter!!!
I was at a soccer game this morning and froze my bottom off!!!!
I was sitting there....teeth chattering... thinking...hhmm.....I wonder if we will ever get spring....and I have come to the conclusion that we have about 10 months of winter and then 2 months of blasting hot!! So no, I don't think we are ever going to get spring, but maybe if I decorate enough, I can enjoy it in my little mind!!

I decided to look for some ideas to decorate my house for spring and try and get some spring feeling in my home.
So, I came across this fabulous blog this morning and fell in love with so much that she has posted!
Here are just a few pictures of some of the wonderful things she has!

I love brown eggs, that is all we had growing up~ It takes me back!

Isn't this green so wonderful!

I ran upon another great blog, called Color Sizzle with wonderful spring ideas!
The next six pictures come from her blog!

This just makes me want nice weather sooo bad!

I love hydrangeas!

I love lemons and limes in a vase with flowers!
It is so summery!

I love topiary's, and these are just too cute!

I am going to pray for spring!!!! I love warm weather....no more snow!!!!

An awesome idea!

2011-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this plaque I did for our friends? If not you can see my full tutorial Here!

Well, Amy from One Artsy Mama wanted to try one of her own! I absolutely love the way hers turned out! Check out her tutorial Here. She has a fabulous blog, and has some great ideas!
I am so excited to that someone was inspired to create something from one of my creations!
It just gives me that extra boost to keep going!

Thanks Amy for sharing this with me! It's beautiful!

Pencil Bag

2011-04-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Remember this zipper pouch????

Well, I decided to make another one for my older daughter to take to school for her colored pencils!

I used a white fabric for the inside. I used the tutorial from Here

I love these little zipper pouches! They really are pretty easy!

Easter wreath

2011-04-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love Easter!
I love spring colors, all the pretty pastels!
So fun after a drab winter!

Anyway, I wanted an Easter wreath, and this is what I came up with!
It was so easy, it took me just a few minutes!

supplies:
1 wreath (I just used an old one that I already had)
1 package of eggs (I bought mine at Joanns with my 50% off coupon)
1 bag of moss (purchased at the dollar store)

First I hot glued my eggs on.
Then, I hot glued moss on around the eggs.
This was the tricky part, it is really hard not to burn your fingers off!
I just would glue a little at a time!
Then, I took some Easter ribbon and hung it up!

So simple!

I love Jewelry!!!

2011-04-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

I love jewelry!! I have a ton of jewelry, and the last thing I needed was more...but I really wanted to try making some, so I did. It was a lot of fun, and I might have to make more!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy my tutorial....the pictures are horrible, I need a new camera, but hopefully you can understand the basics of it!!!

I started with the necklace,
then had to make some matching earrings,
and then off coarse you need a bracelet to complete the set!!!
So here it is!!!

For the necklace, these are the supplies I used!
I got most of them from a dollar store her in town called Honks.
The metal medallion came from Walmart, and the stretchy cord came from Joanns!

So take your cord and measure about how long you want your necklace to be.
An easy way I did it was, I strung the medallion on the cord, and hung it around my neck and positioned the medallion where I wanted it to hit my chest.
Then give yourself a couple of extra inches to tie it off.
Cut your cord.
Then start placing your bead on however you want.

Once you have your bead placed where you want, then you can either tie it off, or attach your lobster claw clasps.
I chose to use a clasp, because mine was short enough I didn't want to stretch it over my head each time!
Make sure you add some super glue to the knot!!!

Now for the earrings!
Here are the supplies I used.

Take your straight pins and add your beads...like so...

Then I took some little wire cutters I had and bend the end of the pin over into a small loop.

I don't have any proper tools, so you can use just about whatever you want to make it work.

Then take the part that goes in your ear (I know, I am so official), and use your needle nose pliers, or whatever tool you are using and open the little loop up on the bottom of it.

Then put the loop that you made earlier on the straight pin with the beads on and pinch the loop closed again with your tool.

I hope you are following....it should look something like this.
And of coarse do it again for the other ear!!!

Now for the bracelet....actually three bracelets! I did three separate bracelets so I could chose whether I wanted to wear 1 or 3!!

So, I started with three strands of the stretchy cord.
I measured it around my wrists, leaving a couple inches extra so I could tie it easier!

Make sure you tape down your strands or I promise you will have some spills....and nothing makes me more mad than spilling all my work...I have no time for that!!!

So add your beads how you want, and you can add a lobster claw clasp, or just tie them off.
Since it is stretchy cord, I decided just to tie mine off.
Make sure you add some super glue to your knots to ensure you won't be redoing it all!
I really pulled on my knots too, just to make sure they were secure!

The finished product!!!

Cheap and easy and fast!

I love how they turned out!

Absolutely hate these pictures of me....my daughter even told me they were bad, but they will have to do!!!

Broccoli Cheddar soup

2011-04-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

I got this recipe from my sister and it has been one of our favorites for years! It is so good!

Ingredients:

1 small block of Velveeta, cut into cubes
2 head of broccoli, steamed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery
1-2 stalks of celery
milk, just enough to thin it as much as you like
salt and pepper
mushrooms (this is something I add, but it actually isn't in the original recipe)

Steam your broccoli, set aside. In a big pot, add all the ingredients and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.
I actually do this in the morning and put it in a crockpot and let it cook on low all day.
I like easy!!!

And I like to add some bacon bits....everything is better with bacon!