Final Touches for Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween! Ours was very nice. My grandmother drove up from SC to visit and my parents came down from VA. It was a very busy weekend but not too busy to throw in a few projects!!

Thursday evening I was looking through some friends Halloween pictures and saw they had the cutest personalized Treat-or-Treat Bags...and my kids had none...Oops a little bit of an oversight on my part.

At 10PM I decided that was going to change. I was going to make my kids some custom trick-or-treat bags. No pattern...no problem. I've never appliqued...I'm not afraid!! A couple hours later....TA-DA!

This was my first attempt at applique and let me tell you I am hooked!! I won a give-away from Katie's Nesting Spot from You Can Make This and it had all of these wonderful applique projects. I didn't have time to read or attempt my hand at these complex projects. So I skimmed over the "How-to booklet" and just made my own templates and just went for it! I can totally see a lot more applique projects in my future!

My kids got to do a trial run on Friday and we went Trick-or-Treating in the Living room. Yep, they will work!


Here they are all done up for the big night!! W- is a dog "Butler" and L- is a cat- "Buster" my parents animals!


The fun didn't stop there. My wonderful and creative grandma rolled into town with her own project for the kids and everyone participated!!


Mamma II brought the supplies to make Chocolate-Peanut butter Spiders! YUMMY!


Here is our spooky spider!!


I hope everyone had a fun-filled Halloween!

BTW- Did anyone else heart start beating a little bit faster now that Halloween is over and Christmas is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!?!? Yikes!!

Reinvented: Childrens Toy to Decorative Tassel

This weekend I dabbled in a little bit of everything..I sewed, painted (walls), crafted and dreamed about what my house would look like if money were no issue and I had an interior decorator to pull it all together! Did I say that out loud...yes, and I digress.

In my slightly manic Friday evening and working on many projects at a time, I decided I also needed to do some crafting. I have had this idea of a Tassel in my head for a long time I just needed to pull it together. So I gathered my supplies from my Pack Rat Collection... I paid nothing for the project although at one time or another I bought these items for another purpose.

Pictured above:

Trimmings left over from Daughter's Room

Terracotta Pot from Seedlings that didn't make it (I have a black thumb)

Strawberry Shortcake Sherbet Doll from my childhood

Cross Stitching Floss from Crazy Quilt (That still is not done, I should add that to my list)

One sacrificed doll all in the name of decor and this is what you have...

How I did this: I wrapped the fringe around the widest part of the pot, upside down and Hot glued it on. Then wrapped the fringe around the top. I added a picture frame hook to the top of Sherbet's head (sorry girl) and glued her to the top of the tassel (or the bottom of the pot). I used E-6000 glue rather then hot glue this time. Then as an added touch I went old school, and for the string I used my 90's friendship bracelet making skills!! I seriously was smiling the whole time I was making the string. All I needed was NKOTB (Xazmin I thought of you also) playing and I would of been in heaven!!

My beautiful toy tassel for my daughter's room. The colors match perfectly!

I LOVE THIS!! I am going to search my other "antique" toys in my collection to see what else I can make. Maybe use Raisin Men or He-man next time. (Haha, just kidding) This was supper easy and looks wonderful!!! Completely Reinvented and has Made it a 2nd Time Around and I think it looks great!!! Also, this Strawberry Shortcake Doll still smells like Lime Sherbet after all these years!!

Today, I am participating in Kimm's Reinvented Party & The 2nd Time Around Party! Go on ahead over there and check out some other talented women.

Trash to Treasure- Hair Bows

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I wanted to share a true Trash to Treasure project. I am participating in Kimm's Reinvented- Trash to Treasure Tuesday!!

My daughter received as a birthday gift last week a Snow White dress up outfit. It came from her BFF and the outfit has been worn/loved lots. In the box also comes a pair of high heels. Less then 24hrs from receiving the gift the shoes were broken. My daughter can run in high heels like they are tennis shoes (not a talent she got from me because I don't wear high heels at 6' tall.)

I was literally taking them to the trash can (without her looking because that would be bad news) when I thought "hey I bet the most expensive part of these shoes is the ribbon and picture on the front. I will make these into hair bows!!"

Before:


2 barrettes and one hot glue gun later I have matching hair bows for my daughter...

After:


I think she likes them!! :)

Crafting Lesson with Mommy

This weekend my daughter, Lawson, and I did a quick project together to refurbish a decorative box we found at a thrift store for $4. It would have been fine on its own but it had a white matte finish, with some scuff marks, and dirt that made it not quite suitable for displaying. We decided to make it our own for a quick rainy day project (after I had spray painted it a white gloss on Friday).

After spray paint...


Inside

While we were picking out the perfect scrap book paper for the lining it occurred to me there is a lot a child can learn from a simple home project done with mom.

I involve my daughter (3 almost 4) in a lot of projects you see on this blog that end up beatifying my home rather then being hung up on the refridge and my motives could be questionable. However, there truly is no one prouder then my daughter to show a visitor all of the beautiful things she has made with her mommy (and it makes my heart sing with pride).

Note: I am not a teacher just a mom trying to teach my daughter there is lessons to be learned every where!!

The crafting lesson…
1. Picking out coordinating scrap booking paper. Lawson was in charge of making sure the box lining matched. Color coordination is vital to good fashion. (wink)
2. Measuring. I did the measuring but I made Lawson tell me each of the numbers aloud.
3. Once I made the mark I had Lawson cut along the line. Dexterity. Very good!!
4. Shapes. Tell me what shape we cut out.

5. Gluing. Mod Podge is Non-toxic and gluing is just plain old fun!!
6. Finishing a beautiful project that she and mommy can be proud of!!!!!

Lawson would not let me take a picture of her with the box, but she is proud of her creation. It is now in her room filled with lots of Barbie trinkets!!!

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing...

My Princess is taking dance class this semester. Her Beginning Dance Class is an hour long-30 minutes is ballet and 30 minutes is jazz. So we bought all the necessary equipment and off we went. I realized during the first class there was a change in shoes and watched the craziness unfold. The teacher has to change all of the kids shoes (wasted time) and then bows do not stay tied! So the teacher has to stop what she is doing to fix all of the shoes at least once for each child! I decided to help her out and have at least my daughter not so focused on her shoes!!

Here was the dilemma with the shoes, if representative from Capezio is reading this you can pay me for my idea later...
1- The ribbon frays (cheap)
2- These are for 3-4 year old who do not know how to tie shoes!!
3- Can you say...messy


During the first dance class (back in Jan) I decided I was going to put elastic in the shoes. Then to add some extra glam I put a bow on them!!

Quick Tutorial....
I bought 1/4" black elastic and strung it through both sides and attaching it in the middle. Then I made a cute bow and sewed it on separate. (I am told the bow has to be black for the recital so I only used 2-3 whip stitches)



Ta-da!! Snazzy Jazz Shoes!! Slip-on ready!!

Procrastination time: 3 dance classes (3 weeks)

Cost: Elastic $1.49 Wal-mart used only 6 inches, Ribbon $1 Michael's, Cute Jazz Shoes that are toddler friendly PRICELESS!!

Verdict: Last night was dance class and the teacher appreciated my toddler friendly shoes. She said they make jazz shoes with elastic but apparently at the local store here doesn't carry them! BUT are as CUTE????

Valentine's Day- Teacher's Gift on a Budget

I am like 80% of this nation and do not have a large budget for Valentine's Day. And it appears Hallmark and all other national retailers have made Valentine's Day such a big deal that if you don't give every one you love or care about a gift you really don't care. I want to scream at the top of my lungs "HELLO, WASN'T IT JUST CHRISTMAS" but no one is really listening to what have to say. In pursuit of making sure my child is not black listed at pre-school I have a great solution/gift.

Hand Sanitizer/ Liquid Soap - VALENTIZED!!

I can't take total credit for this but can't find the site where I found this fabulous idea.

1- I got hand sanitizer from Wal-green last week at BOGO (buy one get one free)

2- Peel off the labels

3- Embellished it with Wal-mart scrapbooking heart stickers or letters.

4- I had my daughter cut a heart-shape card and then color it and sign her name.

5- I punched a hole in the heart (without my daughter looking because if I showed her that trick EVERYTHING would have a hole in it!)

6- Tie the heart/tag on with a ribbon

My daughter is a lot like me and LOVES crafts!

There you have it- a teacher gifts on a budget and with all those lovely germs around this winter who best to give hand sanitizer too!!

Procrastination Time: I am ahead of schedule- mainly because I needed a craft for my daughter and wanted to share with you! A week ahead of schedule. I am doing the jig now!!

Pack rat: Once again I used my ribbon collection. Trust me the further I get into this blog the more you will see what I pack away!! (I am almost ashamed to share but the only way to concur is to admit you have a problem!)

Verdict: Great and easy project. Good project to do with kids. I gave one to my mom who is a Principal at an Elementary school & she really liked it.

Cost: Hand sanitizer $1.50, stickers .99 a pack & made 2 per pack, ribbon apart of my collection, and tag- free. Total- $2.00

Let me know if you have tried something similar or have any suggestions to make this better for next year!!

Some things can't wait...

We love crafts in this home and this weeks project has been to make a page for a Blessing Book for Kristi. She is a mother of 3 boys who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer with metastasis in the liver, spine and pelvis. Kristi is only 30 years old. You can read the whole story here. You can tell by her pictures she is a beautiful person inside and out. Her story is heart wrenching and we wanted to do anything we could do to help!!

I think one of the wonderful gifts of blogging is the kindest of strangers. I admit most times I am a friendly stalker and just browse lots of blogs. Then I find a blog that really strikes a chord, I put it in my favorites and check on them regularly. They seem to become my "friend" and they don't even know I exist. I found Kristi's story through this blog Kelly's Korner. She is an amazing Christian who is welcoming her baby girl, Harper, into the world today. To read her blog you immediately love her!! So when she posted about Kristi I knew we had to take action.

So this week we made this page for Kristi...