My Craft Closet

family binder

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-08:00

I labeled the toy boxes using google images. The kids are loving to put the toys away now. lol yah right.

My New favorite thing is the family binder. ahhh my brain feels a little bit more organized now. I have added some links that I got the printables from at the bottom of this page. I purchased these great markers that are a wet erase, they don't smear everytime you touch the page. You have to use a wet paper towel, it is nice.

http://organizedhome.com/household-notebook

http://tipnut.com/budget-worksheets/

good luck with your January goals.

Back to school

2012-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Once I finished the kitchen I knew I needed to do something about the way things go down when the kids come bursting throught the door at 4:00 every afternoon. I say bursting because on 3 of those days there are 7 of those beasts that range from 1st to 8th grade. I take care of a friends kids on the days she has school. They are hungry, tired, moody, stressed out, and excited to play and hang out together. (I really need to purchase so earplugs). This homework caddy will ensure that there are plenty of pencils ready to go, a sharpener to keep them from getting up to find one, and a calculator for the same reason. I think it still needs colored pencils and a longer ruler. YAY!!!

I've never seen hungrier monsters, they will eat anything they can get their hands on and they don't care if I am making dinner or if they are making a mess. So I set aside a shelf for afterschool snacks. They can touch anything on that shelf until 5:00. Then I put my foot down and put an end to snacking.

For packing lunches, I decided to start using reusable containers most of the time. BUT to save the hassle of always trying to find a lid, I threw all mis-matched stuff away! on the bottom shelf I have 2 baskets, sandwich containers and the twist top containers are for my homemade applesauce. I canned a ton of it, the only way We will ever use it up is to send it to school.

Hope back to school time went well for everyone else. I think if I could find a way to get them out of bed in the morning things would pretty much be perfect. (okay thats a lie, no body's perfect)

A fresh start project #1 organize the kitchen.

2012-01-13T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well well my little blog, did you think I had forgotten you? not so, not so. Life has been seriously insane. I mean busy-busy-busy. But I do love to blog, however I am not making any promises to blog MORE in 2012. My plan is to "simplify". So I will simply blog when I can... I have been on a crazy organizing spree. (this is one of my January goals, yep I said goals, my new years resolution was to set a goal to set goals, monthly goals, haha) I started in the kitchen. After all January deserves a fresh start. Here is a before picture of my most used cupboard.

WOW did I feel like a slob. Okay, the kids help. But I had SOOO many half full boxes of crackers, and doubles and triples of things. Iit was nice to purge and things that I had lots of I moved downstairs into my storage room.

Oh my goodness, I sure do love the after!!! I used a bunch of those $1 plastic shoeboxes to organize them into categories. The one without a label... well I couldn't think of a name for it besides, stuff that keeps falling over and getting in the way. lol

I managed to get all the bulk stuff on one shelf, and it does feel so much better

I am sure everyone has seen these chalkboard label, I was getting tired of the cricut and remembered I had a little scrap of Matte finish black vinyl I had just thrown a way, so I fished through the garbage and started cutting to see how many labels I could make. - just the right amount.

We had about 5 of these drink mix containers each had 2 or 3 packets left. what a waste of space. So I put them all together and used their containers for a few of my bulk spices.

I love it.

Happy organizing, or whatever your new Years Resolution was. :)

Entry - Reveal

2011-11-14T10:08:00.000-08:00

Yard sale score, no lie I was on my way to HObby Lobby to buy these. I got them for 10 bucks each instead of 70 ish. It felt like Christmas.!!

Here is the before shot, I can't believe I left it like this for so long. --Really Becky?? nothing even matches. Okay honestly I was waiting until I decided on a paint color, now that was hard because it needed to be the same as the hallway and the living room, so here it is. a beige color. pfff, gave up on something exotic and just went with the easy to please color. My wood floors and wood trip made it hard for me to choose.

YAY my gallery wall is complete, really I had a heart attack putting all those holes in the wall, you have to be sure where to put things.
#1 - First arrange them on the floor, then cut paper to the size of each frame and them arrange those on the wall, you will be glad you went to the extra work for sure!!

I took these pictures at Halloween obviously, I can't wait to get them ready for Thanksgiving. I will be home from TN in a couple of days... should I skip it and just get Christmas out. I really might. hahaha

Another ruffled T

2011-11-08T08:24:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I thought I would be able to blog while in TN, I am exhausted and busy busy busy watching 6 kids for my bro and sis in law while they are in Africa while my Mother In Law watches my little darlins. I really don't have time unless they are sitting here eating their lunch or in bed. ---whew--- I am just posting some photos I had saved and not posted yet when I have the time.

Home made Cuteness

2011-11-02T09:48:00.000-07:00

Strike a pose, Here she is in her sunday outfit. I made her quickly pose for me as I was leaving town. I made this skirt out of that ruffled fabric. cost was $10. The shirt is from downeast $5. It was a plain T and I ruffled some extra fabric and put it on the front. Best was only $1 on clearance at the mall. and the cardi was a hand me down from a friend. ahh I love saving dough and making something cute!!!

p.s. this blog is brought to you today from the beautiful state of Tennessee and I sure do miss that cutie pie, and all my children at home. I wish I could have brought her with me. Thanks to my amazing mother-in-law who it taking care of my family so I can take care of my brothers family. Its all about bringing home two sweet little orphans from Ethiopia to their new family in TN. I can't wait to meet them.

Giveaway Winner

2011-10-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

WoO HoO - the giveaway is over. I always feel so dumb when I have a giveaway.
I used Random.org, but I do not have the time to figure out how to put the cute little screen shot on here, but it picked number 4,

which is -Tiffany.

(She is married to my nephew and is the mother of my first and only great niece, oh yay I am a great aunt. Is 35 old? Cause I feel OLD, wait not old I'm GREAT)

If the boot fits

2011-10-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

Don't forget to check out the giveaway, closes Wednesday Night. HERE

Halloween is only a week away, I still have a few projects to post. I made these blocks while watching a tv show on my computer, and I only used things that were within my reach. HAHA, I love those kinds of projects. and I do think it turned out cute. Honestly it went really fast because the blocks were all cut, sanded and painted from LAST YEAR. Hope you like it too.

The bats were added later, my son drew them and I cut them out of construction paper. The lettering is from scrapbook stickers. The glitter glue I stole from the kids craft drawer. I would have prefered something a little blingier, but seriously, its only going to be out for a week, and I don't get much company out here in the sticks.

Have you made anything spooky from your stash??

The Modest pirate costume.

2011-10-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Click Here for my current Giveaway, Closes Wednesday Night.

I thought I might run out of time, or spend too much money, so I did look through all the costume shops for her costume. WOWZA, she is only 11, but she can't wear a kids costume and the women's pirate costumes are a much too risque'. I don't know how to spell that word.

SO....... off to the fabric store.

Start with a boys dress shirt

cut the collar off rounded like

sew a casing and thread it with elastic. and that is where I stopped, because I thought it looked so cute, maybe we can reuse this later.

I decided to make the cuffs seperate, so miss picky can take them off if they bother her.

rounded works better

sew a casing in the small end and thread it with elastic the length of her wrist.

Add lace of cours

Brown fabric, I cut a strip of fabric for the sash.

red and brown stripes, I hunted and hunted and finally found some in the quilt shop. It was expensive and I didn't think I got quite enough so that is why I made the brown skirt to go under it.

I didn't hem it, but I am excited because I can re-use this too. I am going to give it a cute finish or ruffles? She needs a brown skirt.

think its pretty cute! all it really cost me in the end was the striped stuff that I spent too much on.

($7 bucks)

Fubulous Friday is a giveaway.

2011-10-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

So was finally able to round up some stuff to give away. Thanks to you, those that read my blog. I really do hope you find it either fun, or helpful at times, on to my giveaway. There will be one winner who will receive ALL of the following gifts in one lovely package.

Rules are;

#1 Follow this blog, leave a comment telling me how long you have been a follower, and your favorite post.

#2 Tweet, FB, blog, call a friend, etc... mention it somewhere to spread the word about my blog and you will get another entry for this. Just leave another comment telling me how you spread the word for me.

Closes on Wed, night Oct. 26th.

One tie, for the little guy. The tie is adjustable and can be 10 to 14 inches in length. Or I can custom make one in any style or size for you at $10 plus shipping. Perfect for Christmas!!

One pin for your sweater, jacket, purse, headband etc. and one hair clip. I also have many more of these in stock. or I can custom make them.

Pre-decorated album, 8x8 inches, spring theme.

Red cluster earrings, Just in time for "THE Christmas SEASON"

a petal filled tutu, Peach in color. I heard Peach is the new Pink?

Apron kit for my two dishtowel apron tutorial, which I now see never got posted, but, HERE is a picture. hahaha. I will get right on that. The kit included to dishtowels and 3 yard of ribbon.

**update** I keep finding more things to giveaway, so you can expect some extra goodies in this package. I will keep them secret though.

button love

2011-10-20T08:16:00.000-07:00

Wear it - Wednesday - My Little Knight

2011-10-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

First, are my eyes playing tricks on me??? According to Blogger yesterday was my 200th post?? How could that be right? Oh well, I guess I should give something away.

**update** click here for my giveaway, closes Wed, October 26th

Check back tomorrow to see what I come up with, it will be so fabulous, hmm. It should be worth $200 to make the whole thing more memorable. I am so excited!! Jewelery? Craft supplies?? hand sewn items?? little girls tutu's? boy's ties? yes, I think so.
Follow my blog so you are sure not to miss out!!

Okay on with today's post, a couple of weeks ago, Cheri at I am Momma made her little boy a t-shirt to wear with his beloved Viking helmet. It seems he was going through a Viking Helmet obsession. As I read this, I laugh and look at my own three year old who was, at that very moment, sporting his favorite Knight helmet, and waving his sword at me.

To make the pattern : I laid the shield on the copy machine to get the dragon outline, i copied it directly onto freezer paper to save the step of tracing. After cutting it out with an x-acto knife I ironed it to the shirt, and with a stipple brush painted on the GOLD tulip metallic fabric paint. IT IS SO SHINY AND COOL.

After cutting it out with an x-acto knife I ironed it to the shirt, and with a stipple brush painted on the GOLD tulip metallic fabric paint. IT IS SO SHINY AND COOL.

Then I removed the freezer paper and let it dry a while. Next I drew my own shield and cut it out of freezer paper and ironed it down. I carefully painted around the dragon with SILVER tulip metallic fabric paint.

Usually the helmet is pulled down over his nose.

I think he is adorable no matter what he is wearing, but that's always how it goes with the youngest right? I feel like I have to use my every last little bit of crafty/sewing mommy ability while he is still little and will let me. My older kids don't always appreciate it. So I guess you could say he is SPOILED ROTTEN and he and I are both loving it!!

I showed this shirt off on Top-toberfest at Leafy Tree top spot.

Tuesday Tips - Easy Distressing for small projects.

2011-10-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

First of all click here for my current giveaway,

closing Wed. Oct. 26th

Candle sticks are so popular, I think they aways will be. I have spent quite a few bucks on them, butt to tell you the truth my favorite ones are these thrift store candlesticks.

There are so many ways to distress something, or antique it. Here is a simple way that you can't really mess up, for something that might be small.

This one WAS wood, so I sanded it, really sloppily with a VERY course grit sand paper. then covered it with white paint. I didn't water it down, It just depends on how much you want to wipe off.
I wanted a lot of paint this time. I waited longer tooI waited 5 minutes then gently wiped off with a wet paper towel. every where I had sanded it was White. Love it.

I followed the same process with this one only I used a very fine grit sand paper and only sanded where I wanted white to stick.

I forgot to take before pictures. This red one was too bright. It is not made of wood, so I didn't want to sand it. I watered down some black paint. maybe a quarter size dollop of paint and 6 or 7 drops of water. Use a sponge brush to cover it.
* The darker you want it to look, the longer you wait. I waited about 2 minutes. then used a wet paper to wipe the paint off. DON'T SCRUB, just wipe until it looks good.

This one followed the same process as the red candlestick, only at first I put the black where I wanted more, then I rubbed the whole thing with my wet paint rag.

If its too thick in one spot you can get a clean wet rag and keep wiping.

Finished. It is so Tall and pretty, and I found it at the thrift store for 5 bucks, SCORE.

Here are the 3 smaller ones I put on my redecorated entry. I will be featuring the entry next week.

I LOVE IT.

Thanks for stopping by, and Please leave a comment, they make my day

Have a lovely week ~ Becky

Monday at My House - so so so so happy

2011-10-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday is the only day I get to have my hubby here, most of the time he travels or works INSANE hours. He is my SUPER HERO. He doesn't love to do my annoying decorating projects. But this Saturday he spent the WHOLE day doing "honey do's" for me. Did you hear me......THE WHOLE DAY!!! He even made a couple of dreams come true for me. (I am cheesy) Maybe it makes a difference that I have been asking for a tile back splash for about 4 years. AND when I say asking...I do mean nagging and begging. We have had some of these supplies for a very long time.

Cutie Pie! wanted to help, well for a minute. As soon as I snatched a picture he was off to play. "That's boring mom."

So there it is before. We, well.. I, had planned this in our last house, lucky we never got it done, so we had some of the stuff all ready when we moved here.

Check out this Tile setting Mat. It saved us a DAY. Normally you apply the mastic, then the tile, and wait 24 hours before grouting, and it is MESSY, Messy, MESSY!
This stuff was so cool, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. We really needed to do this in one day. It is 18"x 9" and comes with 12 sheets. for about 15$. SO WORTH EVERY PENNY.

It went pretty smooth, and we didn't have to do much cutting,

See the beautiful kitchen?? Even my kids said, mom it looks like a different house!! It took us about 4 hours start to finish. for a 12 foot wall of back splash.

Fabulous Fall Friday - Wreath

2011-10-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

If you are following the Follow Me Friday Blog Hop.... from Trendy treehouse Cleck here to learn more about Me!

So I was going to make this my Thrifty Thursday, but I had to go to "town"and ended up gone from 9-5, ever have one of those days, whew, I was sooo tired. the only thing I had to actually BUY for this was the leaves, and they were $1 at JoAnns. Everything else I had on hand.

even the corn husks. I froze a lot of corn this year, so there was a mountain of this stuff in my garden. The wreath was .50 at the thrift store, I think I bought it last Christmas time. I tore the husks into smaller strips, and I used hot glue, for almost everything.

Paint stamps and tiny square of burlap were just in my stash, and the little $1 frame I bought for another project, I guess I will still have to get one for that when I am ready I guess.

Use a sponge brush to lightly brush on the paint, and practice on paper. A stencil would work great too.

Break the back off the frame, and wrap wire around it to attach it to the wreath. I think it would be cute to write Fall if my frame was a little bigger.

Finished. I really love it, but..... my front door is still white so it doesn't look very good. I guess I better paint the door.

Wear it Wednesday - Sew Many Skirts

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was talking to my hubby and saying. I stayed home all summer and I can't remember what I did besides yell at the kids to do their chores, he told me to go check my closet. OH, yes, now I remember. I wore a different skirt once a week for sure.

Here are the skirts I made myself this summer.

a brief description so you can AGAIN see how cheap I am.

#1 was a 9.99 skirt I got at Ross at least 3 years ago. It was too small in the waist and went to the ankle, so I chopped the top 6 inches off added the proper amount of elastic and.... voila, an updated skirt, knee length, but best of all it finally fit me so NEW SKIRT #1. YAY ME

#2 Purple skirt, funny story - On our way to my nieces wedding, which I had been wishing for a purple skirt, but sadly no time to make one before leaving on the long road trip which we were counting as our summer vacation. Then while we were stopped at our friends house for a couple of nights in OR, I realized I had not brought a skirt. We (me and my friend Kristen) were so disappointed that we were going to have to go shopping. Super, Super sad huh?? well I couldn't find anything I liked, so we ran to the fabric store, grabbed some stuff, went back to her house, and got out the sewing machine. It only took like an hour. and cost about 6.99 or less, I am sure I had a coupon. Plus I whipped one up for Kristen too.

#3 Bored to tears of my only knee length black knit skirt I made this one out of the $5 dollar 5 yard bolts at Walmart, I love those sales. so $5 plus $1 for elastic. love it.

#4 is a corduroy fabric with brown and some turquoise in it. I remember buying it 5 years ago, it was one of those memorable days at the fabric store. I love it but have never had time to make it, I used the waist band of some comfy stretchy pants that were in the throw away pile. Now that was a fast skirt and I don't really remember how much the fabric cost but does it really matter? Its been 5 years. hahaha

#5 the last one was a splurge I really wanted a yellow and grey skirt so I went to the "expensive" fabric store. I think I bought 2 yards @ 9.99 each. and had a lot left over. which made a super cute tie for my cousins little boy. and I think I can make one more.

The gray layer was another 5 yards for 5 bucks bolt from Walmart, and I have plans to make a gray skirt for winter with it.

Tuesday Tips - Tomatillo Salsa

2011-10-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

I am so Excited to be done with canning I would do a back flip if I could, this year I used every single jar I and my mother in law own, I don't want to count them that will only make you think I am so pathetic. I made raspberry jam, blackberry jam, apricot jam, strawberry jam, zucchini relish, corn, beans, red salsa, tomatillo salsa, peaches, pears, and apple pie filling. The best part was I bought NO produce, it was all offered to me by neighbors and friends. I am so grateful to live out in the country. Farm life really fascinated me. I've been watching them harves beets behind my house all day, wondering what they would think if I started taking pictures. haha

I just think the peaches and salsa are so pretty, don't you. Well my friend Paige introduced me to Tomatillo Salsa this year, she brought me a little jar to taste it and a bag full of them, WOW, it is good stuff. here is her recipe.

Tomatillo Salsa

5 1/2 c tomatillo's (blended)
1 c onion
1 c peppers
1/2 c white vinegar
4 Tbs lime juice
4 cloves garlic
2 tbs cilantro
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes

Bring ot boil simmer 10 minutes, put in hot jars, leaving 1/2 inche headspave
process 25 minutes.

Monday at My House - Kitchen Wall

2011-10-10T19:09:00.000-07:00

There it is. New coat of paint, some new artwork, well new is not the right word all of them old looking..... Does it look like I went to the Thrift Store and picked up a bunch of stuff? Wait, don't tell me, I like it, I think its prettier in person.

now I am thinking too much. One of the pieces has some antique silverware and the other in the matching frame has my husbands grandmothers measuring spoons, which we picked out when she passed away several years ago.

I also love having the salt and pepperon that little shelf right next to the table. Do you always realize you forgot it after everyone is sitting down? WELL I DO.
Click here to find out more about the silver ware art, or here to see where I got the printables.

Okay One wall down, and .................... well all the rest to go. Love having painted walls after waiting a year!

Fabulous Friday - Kitchen Art

2011-10-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Here is another piece I put together for my "freshly" painted kitchen wall. Monday I will show you the whole wall after its all put together.

I started with a cute piece of framed art from Family Dollar. It was on sale for 3.50 and is about 10x14.

Next I took the whole thing apart, use a flat screw driver to pry those wierd "cheap" staples out, Carefully. You won't need the glass for this project

all it took was some E-600, (already had) some old old silver ware I rescued from my mother-in laws trash (free) and a piece of scrapbook paper I already had. (.50)

I really like it, and I have had that silverware laying around for about 6 years now..... I used some as hooks on a sign I gave to my sister which turned out very cute, but now I have some in my own kitchen. YAY. I am so relieved to finally get the wall put back together!!! Well there you go, Easily done for under 10 bucks, and I finished the whole thing during one episode of The Office,

Thrifty Thursday - printables

2011-10-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Can you get more thrifty than Free? How about just a little ink, and an old frame-- repainted of course.

I just painted the kitchen and I am about ready to hang all the pictures, I am just looking for a few last things. Here is a thrifty tip. THere are some CUte Cute CuTE printables out there, I finally found an adorable Kitchen one on this cute blog, Life with the Ellwoods.

I am also using some from I am Momma Hear me Roar, as I redo my entry, I am making a gallery wall, kinda of like the one I linked to. She has a great gallery wall. THey are also all over in the pottery barn magazines.

Here are her printables she created.

It is so thoughtful of these cute girls to share their artwork with us. So if you use it please let them know, and tell them where you heard about it.

Wear it Wed. - Skirt for a Preteen

2011-10-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a skirt I recently made for McKinley, She needs new dresses, skirts etc. since she recently grew LIKE A FOOT. anyways, I just love everything Ashley makes at Lil Blue Boo She has a super famous blog, and I got the idea for this skirt here and I loved her bustle skirt but McKinley didn't want as many ruffles so I preteen'd it up a little. She does love it now. but its pretty hard to get her to pose for pictures.

Have you sewn anything recently?
♥ Becky

Tuesday Tips, make a short necklace LONG

2011-10-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a little tip I use a lot,

You can have a lovely necklace, but if its not the perfect length, it just doesn't work right with whatever outfit, and I really don't like feeling like I am being choked.

Well you can easily extend those short necklaces and make them longer

With these few supplies.

attach the clasp to one end of a piece of chain, the jump ring on the other end, the length of chain will determine how long your necklace will be.

not long enough for this shirt.

only slightly longer but much better, I might make a longer extender for this one, but then you would have a picture of my gut.... I didn't think you deserved that.

Now here is my favorite bracelet, I fell in love with it when buying some shoes for my daughter, and in the bag it went... only when I gave my little darling the bag, she thought WOW, thanks for the bracelet mom, I am going to wear it on the first day of school...... What was I supposed to say? So I borrow it a lot. haha

With an extra large extender it can be an awesome necklace. You can even just use ribbon. EEEEK I LOVE IT!

Thrifty Thursday - Pearls

2011-09-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

super easy super fast and super cheap bracelet.

It is just what I was hoping it would be... fast, dainty, and white.

start with a string of cheap knock of pearls or other beads. You can sometimes find them on sale for around a buck or two. and it really is time conusming if you are going to thread that many beads yourself.

double it up and thread a crimp bead onto the ends, add a larger pearl or even a button, put the string back through the crimp bead and squish it!

You will need to play with it to figure out how big the loop needs to be to fit it over your pearl, this will be the closure, no clasp required here.

then......YOU ARE DONE.

SUPER CUTE SUPER FAST SUPER CHEAP SUPER EASY

If you need clarification on any instructions just let me know in a comment.
♥ Becky

Wear it - Wednesday PJ's

2011-09-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Rawlin is showing of his new Jammies. I fell in love with this Robot fabric. But the fabric is thin and it gets pretty dang cold here at night. So I lined them with some matching flannel. He loves them so much and tells me these robots have "stwange powers".

Dana at MADE has some pretty good tutorials for making kid pants. Here. Look for the LINED PANTS tutorial.
His shirt has a rocket I appliqued and then I cut out a robot from the fabric.

Tuesday Tips - Jewelery

2011-09-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

There are so many cute jewelery organizers on the craft blogs, I even made a couple of them, but none of them were very practical for me, and I was always loosing jewelery!! UNTIL NOW
I don't remember where I first saw this, but it made a huge difference in how long it takes me to get ready in the morning, and being able to find stuff. I always put my jewelery away now, no more earrings laying around. Because I LOVE to see it full of earrings.

Who doesn't have a cooling rack laying around, and even a bulletin board you aren't using. - thrift store maybe??

The Necklaces and bracelets are on a bulletin board covered in fabric, they both hang in the bathroom, so I can try several on quickly to decide which one to wear,

I know, I know what you are thinking, I have a jewelery problem. *sigh, My excuse, Jewelery is never too tight or too small, it fits just right and if I didn't shower a pair of earrings makes a world of difference.

Week #2 - my house?????

2011-09-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

HAH, I lasted one week before messing up my new schedule. Let me tell you why, cuz I got a real good excuse.

I spent 3 days in bed sicker than I've been in a long time. But let me back up. Before I got super sick I had moved all furniture, taped baseboards, put about 10 cans of paint and rollers and brushes all over the dining room, filled the kitchen counter with fresh produce from the garden to pile for making salsa. then BAM....... No mom for 3 days, or more, now I am working on cleaning up the mess, I finished a lot of the painting and even the salsa, but with sick kids, I don't know if I will ever get this place straitened up.

I envy HOH, for her courage to post her unfinished projects with her challenge to finish them. I am not sure I coulden handle that kind of presure. but check her out here. Her last project is so awesome.

Let me share another one of my VERY FAVORITE decorating blogs with you. Pretty Handy Girl.

I seriously love her blog, she makes me think outside the box, I will be using a lot of her ideas as I decorate our new house. That ladder for one, I even bought an old ladder a while back, KNOWING I would need it someday.

okay, I will post some of my to do list here so there is a little pressure

(things get done quicker with pressure)

1. Entry, painted, now hang my shelf and redecorate it.

2. A new Fall wreath for the porch

3. The matle, oh I can not wait to show you!

4. Tile the backsplash, Tile purchased, just need my good budy Paige to show me what to do.

5. Finish McKinley's room, hang chandelier and make her bedspread.

6. The kids bathroom, YIKES.

7. Paint the basement

8. Basement art gallery.

9. Make a memory wall in hall.

10. Laundry room, finally organized, now just needs painted.

11. boys room, redecorate. I've got big ideas, but Hubby is not quite on board, yet

12. Dining wall - decorate with the pictures I am gonna make

13. Temple picture project.

14. re-do the dining table top and chairs.

15. mending pile.

16. baby gifts to sew.

OH NO, I just keep thinking of stuff. I gotta stop, maybe I will have to give stuff a priority number.

Those are pretty big projects, now I hope I can get something accomplished this week.

Thrifty Thursday- rug and earrings

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are some dollar store earrings. I really don't nee more silver earrings, and I almost never wear gold. However, I sure could use some black or brown earrings. So I whipped out the trusty Krylon Spray paint.

I can't wait to wear them, I am a kind of obsessed with earrings.

Here is the rug from Monday's post, It is made with 6 dollar store jute rugs. I tied them together with a ball of Jute. I love it, To go buy a rug this size would be about 40 or 50 bucks. I hope my 6 dollar rug will last a while, for 6 bucks its worth a shot!

Wear it Wed. - Cute little MONSTER

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-07:00

This monster shirt is my favorite thing I have made in a long time. R. Loves it and thinks he is so big. We pass this train with all the graffiti on it every single day, and he always comments on it. We had so much fun taking pictures there. I am glad at least one of my kids lets me take their picture.

To make it I uses a Shaun White t-shirt I got at Target on clearance for $2. then I used scraps for the sleeves. My inspiration came from the blog. Lil Blue Boo. She has such fun style.

Tuesday's Tips - Zucchini, Zucchini, Zucchini

2011-09-20T07:55:00.000-07:00

Tip #1 - You only need 1 zucchini seed, so maybe just share a pack of seeds with someone because there is usually 12 in a pouch and let me tell you from experience. - THATS TOO MANY.
I am kinda the joke of the neighborhood/family, I must have been thinking I would thin them out or ???? who knows really. but I have used zucchini in every way possible. and I don't think I could ever get sick of it, but... my kids can!
Zucchini Sticks, recipe I used is found here.

Zucchini pineapple - All it requires is pineapple juice and sugar. directions found here. This is a substitute for real pineapple, there is a great zuc. pinneapple bread recipe and I love it in smoothies.

Zucchini Parmigiana - THIS WAS OUR FAVORITE. go here for the recipe

Zucchini Lasagna, - just substitute the noodles in your favorite lasagna recipe with long slices of Zucchini, we loved this too.

These are the ingredients I use to make smoothies,
1 1/2 c. milk, 1 scoop vanilla protein powder 1/ 4 c z.pinneapple. and 1 cup frozen berries. so yummy, better than Jamba~ and about 1/10th cost, if you allready have frozen berries.

Zucchini bread, muffins, and Brownies. My friend made Zucchini Fudge cake, I liked those the best. just google it. While your at it, Zucchini PIZZA, and Ratatouille, those were our favorites last year.

~Oh my, I almost forgot relish, I made some great Zucchini mustard relish, I canned about a dozen pints, it is great on burgers or dogs etc. Here is a recipe for that.

Don'tbe afraid to try some of these, they are seriously good, and.... what do you have to loose, I mean besides Zucchini .... hahah.

Mondays at My House - The Front Porch.

2011-09-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

Seriously with a view like this..... I wanted to be able to sit on my front porch to sit and enjoy it.

I was SO excited when we bought this house a year ago, I loved our last two houses, but, I have always wished for a front porch. NOW I have one. I love it. Well... that rug has to go, and I couldn't wait to decorate it.

I added some flower pots from Costco, These were only 39.99. Honestly, I think in this case it was cheaper to buy them all planted. I weighed the options and just bought them, next year I will just reuse the planters.
Isn't my plant hanger awesome!! My father in law made that for me one Christmas, he loves to weld cool things, so when he made one for my MIL, I said I would love one for Christmas. Then Jeff ran hoses through it so it would water automatically, because.... I kill plants.

I've been yard saling all spring for some awesome wicker chairs, but sadly, no luck. I wanted something that was inexpensive so that when I come across the perfect wicker furniture (for cheap) I can go for it. I added this wooden trunk, from a yard sale.

My biggest goal on the front porch was COLOR, I think I managed to achieve that.

Does she look annoyed or what? I think she wanted my attention.

A new Blog Schedule

2011-09-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

Blogging makes me happy.... Well the new blogger interface is giving me issues, but anyways, I have decided that I am going to do more of it. I have a camera full of projects and I think the reason I don't post them is they aren't organized. SO I think I will break it down this way.

Monday at My House - This will be the random one, Most of the time it will be something I have made or redecorated at my house. We will see how it goes, haha.

Tuesday's Tips - I will share a tip that I have found very useful. (usually a link) I am kind of into food storage, preparedness stuff, and saving money, but this might change with the seasons.

Wear it Wednesday - A handmade or refashioned item to wear of course!

Thrifty Thursday - Hi my name is Becky and I am a recovering garage sale addict, (sometimes I still sneak in a side trip on our way to baseball games etc.) but I am ALWAYS lookin for bargains. It could be anything that I have found a way to save money on. Thrift stores are my favorite places to hunt for a bargain.

Friday's Fantasies - Links to pictures of projects I think are fabulous and hope to one day try out myself.

I hope you will leave coments, let me know what you think of that days post, or if you have tried it let me know and I will feature you!! I love getting to know the bloggers.

So Here it goes it will all start on Monday.

A pre-view??

Zucchini, Earrings, Dresing up my Cute little boy,

and other fun stuff.

(haha, no I am not making earrings out of Zucchini,

but that would be a new one)

Bird Hurricane Jar

2011-09-14T09:00:00.000-07:00

I just love this new addition to the entry. cost. $2.00
I found the glass at the thrift store and looked for tin that had a lid that could fit on top, then I bought a little birdie knick knack to glue to the lid, the rest of the items I had around the house. ♥

I know, my entry is boring,

Where did the summer go????

2011-09-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

Oh... Now I remember, I helped the kids raise lambs. We started out not knowing nothun!

....but now we are lots more smarter!! We started out with 3, and my 8 year old sons lamb died out of the blue one day. oh man it was traumatic, 2 weeks before fair, he worked sooooo hard. My daughter had the biggest lamb at the whole fair, it weighed 170 lbs, that thing was a monster, and right after this picture it got away and jumped up onto the judges table, knocking down the ribbons and trophies. I think he wanted one of those trophies. Hmmm I almost miss him.

This guy kept us busy, and thought it would be fun to drag potty training out through the whole summer. He loved the Fair and thinks that the lambs are still there. awww

This is me and moon, If the kids are getting animals so am I. Sorry about the wierd face, I was trying to get Moon to smile. ah, I just ♥ her!!

Rawlin couldn't part with his favorite "cars" winter long sleeved shirt, so I cut off the cute picture and put it on this little old navy shirt. Now he has a NEW favorite shirt.

I didn't have much time for crafting between all the vacations and animal care but I have been wanting to make these cute little ties forever, so Here they are!! The velcro in the back.

Trip to Oregon to visit old friends, after a little hike I looked back to see where the babies went, and here they are. SO cute they love their big bro's and their big bro's love them too.

Made it to Seattle for my neices wedding and squoze in a couple days of playtime.

we had lots of visitors over the summer, my niece on the far right got to come up from TN anad stay with us for a couple weeks, it was awesome!!

Now the school is back in session and the lambs are OUTTA HERE, I have lots more time for crafting, I just took a load of pics of all the things I have recently done so get ready for lots of projects up ahead

Dresser re-do

2011-06-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Found this at a yard sale in really good shape and talked them down to $55.

Used 5 cand of gray and white spray paint and turned it into this...

Hooked up with some link parties at the bottom of the page!

Katie's skirt

2011-06-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

Its been a while and I just now realized I never posted this. Here is Katies skirt for her little brothers wedding. the colors were yellow and orange.
It was so fun to make, thanks to Emily and Katie for letting me help them with it, and for all the fabric (should be enough to make myself one)

TEACHER APPRECIATION

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

If I had a few more minutes this could have been even cuter, but really it is the thought that is the important part here. My kids have such excellent teachers, and we had a blast putting this together. If I had more time i would have tried to inclued more students...

Each day my kids' teachers received a bag or basket with a couple of the following items in it.

Here are a few more Ideas:
* Thanks for all the "thyme" you give.
* You are so "Pop"ular
* Your a cut above the rest "scissors"
* "Hands Down, you are the best" -apron with kids handprints. - or hand sanitizer.
* you have made a mark on our lives -dry erase markers, or teacher stampes.
* You are like a breath of fresh air "air freshener". (my sons 5th grade teacher had some stinky boys in there, lol)
-- I just added up what I spent, it was about $15 per teacher, this includes 2 little baskets for each teacher, and gift bags from around the house. There were a couple other students who pitched in, so I thought it was a pretty great gift. ( I do use coupons, so it might cost some people a little more than that)
Most importantly, THANK A TEACHER today.

Mothers Day Corsage.

2011-05-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

These are usually made for the hair, and I knew My mother loved wearing flowers, so I added a pin to the back to make it into a corsage. This should be much cheaper and easier to mail. Not to mentionit will last forever. I wish I had more pictures, but life is so crazy, the kids were getting into the car while I was making it, and I took the picture in my car in front of the post office. But I got it done, and I want to make one for mysef if I ever gt time. LOVE IT. ♥

Happy Mothers Day Mommy.

Cute Spring Wreath

2011-04-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

I saw a similar wreath somewhere and decided to attempt a cute wreath for my Mother-in-Law. Everyone loved how it turned out.

* I started with just a grapevine wreath. Cost approx $3.99 but you can almost always get them at the thrift stores.
* Then I hot glued moss all over it. The green kind, not the brown stuff. Cost approx. $4.99
* Added some cute yellow flowers that came all in one bunch. Cost. approx. $2.99
* I found these adorable little butterflies at JoAnn's in the floral dept. I can't find the receipt, they were pricey, so use a coupon. If you are thrifty or have some of these things on hand you could make this pretty little wreath for pretty darn cheap.

cute and custom PURSE

2011-04-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

I really learned a lot of helpful things on this purse, so I think I will make a tutorial for this. Anyone can make a bag, but with a few tips it can really be a VERY nice purse.

Stay tuned for some Really great TIPS!!!! If my machine is fixed that is.....(cross your fingers)

Stashbusting Hoodie Tutorial

2011-04-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Well You might be able to tell by the picture below but I kind of have a problem with getting rid of things. I LOVE PRETTY FABRICS. Its an illness I've inherited from my mother, who got it from her mother, and well.... I love it. It took me years to figure out what, if any, qualities could I have possible inherited from my mom. She is good at everything, and I finally put my finger on it. Neither one of us can get rid of stuff. I really don't think its a bad thing. Well... not if you can use that stuff for good. So this past month I have vowed to make things out of my "STASH". Today over at T-Shirt Diaries Robin was sweet enough to feature me. Today I want to show you one thing I made out of a few things I found in this pile of junk.

This sweatshirt was by far my favorite thing that came out of this stash. However the cutest thing I ever made is the little squirt wearing it.

Its overwhelming when you have such a large stash to pick from, so start by sorting you stuff. I have different shelves for each category (after this shirt I had to take a couple days off of sewing to reorganize the storage room, it was getting crazy in there, so you can't tell I have it organized in this photo)

Sweatshirt fabrics, Knits, Flannels, cottons, fleece, Clothes to recycle (I only save the clothes that are in either really good condition, or prints and colors that I love), Fancy stuff, Small Scraps, and Misc. The little drawers you see, are filled with, Thread, Elastic, Lace, Ric Rac, and Bindings. A lot of these things I find at thrift stores or on clearance, I stock up when I see something I will need I will need in the future. I recently took several bags full to goodwill, DO NOT... I repeat... Especially if you are married, and want to keep your hubby happy, DO NOT KEEP EVERYTHING. I know its hard for me too.

So here is the up cycled Hoodie. I used three different shirts for this project plus a small scrap of flannel to line the hood. The shirt on the far right had a faded picture on it, that is what I used for the front, the polo on the left was used for the sleeves and I used the buttons for the front of the sweatshirt too.

So back up - lets talk about a pattern, I used a regular shirt pattern that I got from taking apart one of his messy stained t-shirts. I like to trace them on the comics, or if I want to keep it forever, a plastic disposable party table cloth, they are PERFECT, and don't rip. I used this other sweatshirt to get the hood shape.

First cut out the front and back, and sleeves, then cut the button piece off of the polo, sew it onto the little sweatshirt, fold it over the top and sew it across the top too. Then open it up and clip the shirt behind it, making plenty of room for big toddler heads.
Measure the neck opening with a measuring tape, then make sure your hood is the same size

Once you cut out the hood, lay it over the fabric you want for lining, and cut that out, I left a big green border on the inside but you don't have to.
Then sew that around the neck. **I sewed the side seams last so there wouldn't be a lot of bulk in the way while I did this next part.

For the pockets, I looked at another sweatshirt and drew this onto newspaper first, Cut it out and laid it on the sweatshirt to see if I liked the size and shape. The fabric I was using was so stretchy that i made a flannel lining for the pockets, that part is optional.

I just love it, and it makes him so happy that he saw me making it for him. Now the other boys want their own..... hmmmm.

If you have any questions or I missed something please ask!!!
If you use this tutorial, or any of my tutorials, please let me know, I would LOVE to see your work.

Becky

Pretty Party dishes for $2

2011-04-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

A trip to the Thrift store always lands me in a few new projects, today I thought I would look for soem glass. The one on the top left is actually upside down, but that is how it neede to be to become a stan for the bowl in front of it.

This is the glue I use for things like this and also for making rings, it is amazing. You do need to prop the glass because it wants to slide around until is starts to dry, (20 minutes tops)

I am going to use them for a mother daughter party next month. Does anyone know any healthy options rather than having a candy table? I have been gathering lots of cute dishes for it.

I love the sunset out here where we live, and me new camera does a good job of capturing it. Is is horrible to say I can't wait until forest fire season, okay it is. But the sunsets will be fascinating.

Entry Decor, and a Camera Strap

2011-04-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that it has been a week and a half since I posted. I have been so busy sewing and taking pictures with my new camera that I haven't stopped to blog. I got a NEW CAMERA 2 weeks ago. I have been dreaming of this everyday for at least 3 years. My hubby is the best, he bought me this when he received a check from work that he had done a while back. NIKON D3100.
**First things First, I always swore I would make a super cute camera strap when I got a camera, so the next day I made this. I actually just covered the one I got with the camera.

Next, I took pictures of the new entry table that I recently finished, but I had been working on since Decemberish, the garage has been too cold to paint in until recently.

can you believe this was a T.V.?
I rescued it from my friends mom, it was on its way to the dump

Front View, do you like the turquoise candlesticks, they have gotten mixed reviews, I have redecorated the table about 10 times.

I LOVE IT!!

Here are the only demolition pictures I got, on one sunny

day in December.

The minute I first saw Beckie on Infarrantly Creative do this project I started watching for a free TV cabinet. YAY, FREE, paint...$9.00. and well then the excuse for new decorations to go on top of course. haha.

Owl Pillow

2011-03-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

I have been working on McKinley's room ever since we moved in in September. I just made her some pillows and here is the owl one. Basically made from scraps from her other pillows. I will only post this one for now since it fits in with the STASH BUSTING challenge! It just takes tiny pieces, and a long strip of minky for the sides. I didn't follow a tutorial for this one, but I think there are probably several out there.

My New Favorite Necklace

2011-03-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

This is my new favorite necklace, I made this recently with random supplies I already had. Two types Left over chain pieces, and lots of charms, The charms came from all kinds of places, a simiple necklace, and old best friend necklace proably 20 years old and a couple of lonely earings that lost their mate.
Anyway my point is that you can find this stuff all over your house and you probably didn't even realize that you had what you need to make an awesome one of a kind necklace
all along.

My Contest Entry {Hoodie}

2011-03-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

I made this Hoodie for a contest over at I am Momma, Hear me ROAR as part of the Boys Tops contest. I made about 3 other shirts before I decided to enter this one. I think it is pretty cute and it is made of shirts I had in my stash. so it cost ummmm... NUTHIN! SO I love it even more.

**Tutorial to Come Soon**Have an Awesome weekend. We will be sad to see Spring Break Come to and End.

Sweater Refashion

2011-03-22T20:59:00.000-07:00

I LOVE black and white. I have seen this wide lace used in a LOT of clothing lately. So I found a cute white sweater that I could alter. Cut it up the center then added this black lace to both sides. I love it so much, I still haven't worn it though. I think it needs somekind of a button or something to keep it from flapping open, like it seems to do. I am not self-confident enough to take a picture with it on me. but maybe someday. hmmmm. What do you think? A button? at the top, or the middle? or a ribbon to tie a bow to hold it somewhat closed? remember a belt will not do, I am no skinny, flat chested chic.

Some of my favorite projects

2011-03-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

I follow the blog " I am Momma, Hear Me Roar" very closely. In fact she is so creative and cute and thoughtful, and spiritual I try to do everything just like her.... (kidding.... well, exagerating anyway, lol) This is her Ed Hardy inspired shirt Westin sees me sewing so much that he was so happy to have something that was just for him. Really, I know it doesn't look like it, but he was. You see he has middle child syndromw pretty bad, so I have been trying to make sure I pay him special attention often. It does amazing things for his attitude. I think I will try this again and I am sure it will turn out much better.

This is another Project I saw over at Cheri's blog (I am Momma...) The Big Shelf I absolutely LOVE it, It took me forever to get my husband to put it up. THey have much cuter Corbels (the big white brackets) at Hobby Lobby. I don't live near one so I got these at Home Depot and was finished by the time I was in Boise at Hobby Lobby. Love that place. I must say the birdcage is from the dollar store a long time ago, the Huge Canvas print on the left was $10 at family Dollar, and the Vase on the Right was $7 at Family Dollar. My room finally feels cozy.

Anthro- Copy Cat

2011-03-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

I had bought a necklace with 8 or 9 of those big metal flowers, I knew from that moment that I woudl be remaking it, I just really didn't know which way to go. TOO many ideas. But when I saw this one Sachiko made on her blog Tea Rose Home. I was SOLD!!

**Sachiko's Hometown was actually hit by the earthquake in Japan, she is still waiting to hear from one of her sisters. Please say a prayer for them, I know I will!

I tried to upload a picture of hers, but my server won't let me?? Check out her blog to see it.

Cutest LIttle Boy Pants EVER!

2011-03-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

These could be some pretty cute Capri's on the right person, but they just look dumb on me, No big loss I am pretty sure they were around 10 bucks a few years back.

Last week I was browsing around all the posts for "Celebrating The Boy" (which is crasy awesome) and came upon this Tutorial at "This mama makes stuff.

I am still breathless, and I must tell you that once I cut these out they took me about 15 minutes to sew together. The pockets from the back of the pants look like they were meant to be.
and just look at my little man

I am not quite the photographer that she is but Dang they are CUTE! I wanted a pocket on the front and used this tutorial by Dana Made it. She is also a genius.

I really must say something about my hubby's mad craft skills, This little guy turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, and I convivced his daddy to build a platform with a slide on it to go with our swing set. Now it just needs stained.

Lisa's Shirt. ~ Stashbusting challenge

2011-03-08T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is a very simple shirt I made by laying a shirt I had out on fabric and cutting around it.

I then appliqued some black leaves in a few places. I LOVE IT. however I didn't consider the stretchyness of the fabric. This fabric is knit but a wierd non stretchy type. I tried to squeeze into it and immediately thoght. Hmmm. I guess this one is for my SIL Lisa. She would love it, and is at least a size maybe two smaller than me. I am pretty sure it was meant to be, since it was even her birthday!! I hope you like it Lisa.

It is Spring Stashbusting time!!

I took the challenge, and will even have my own feature sometime in the next month Right HERE on the T-Shirt Diaries.

The challenge is NO TRIPS TO THE CRAFT STORE.

this should be a piece of Cake for me, I like how Robin from the t-shirt diaries described it. "You know when you feel like you are one shopping trip away from being featured on HOARDERS"

~ Its like she knows me personally or something ~

If you feel like you want to join the challenge, you can link your blog up to the challenge on the link above. Happy Stashbusting everyone!

A new top for me.

2011-03-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

I bought a plain tank top at Old Navy for about 8$. then added some lace appliques bought for $1. I addes lots of pearls and sequince that I already had. Then I wore it with a white long sleeve shirt and a black cardigan. YAY. I love new clothes, it gets me all excited to go and do something fun.

My first Purse

2011-03-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Here it is, just one of the things I have attempted this winter, this was a learning project for me. I needed a gift for a friend who went above and beyond to help me this winter, and i knew she wanted a funky one of a kind purse. I told her the catch was she had to be TOTALLY HONEST so I would know what to improve on.
It is suposed to close with a magnet-that didn't work, and it needs to be a little deeper, Thre is a pocket on the front that is covered with a flower and lots of buttons. I LOVE BUTTONS. The bag was made with upholstery samples which were given to me by a friend several years ago. I am currently working on another project with them.

So I decided agains the craft blog for a while. NOT agains crafts, I have been making TONS of stuff, but I haven't had time, and now i think I might need the therapy. so bring on some uplifting comments PLEASE.:)

Have you seen some fun and FUNKY purses on the NET? where I love more ideas.

Personalized ornaments

2010-12-09T12:42:00.000-08:00

Every Year I like to do a special ornament that is just for each child. Last year I did these sihlouettes.

First I took a picture of each child from the side.
Print the picture, it can be cheap paper or even in black and white, cut it out and trace it on Black paper
I tried to find chipboard that fit the pictures but I ended up just making my own our of posterboard, you can use the hard backing of a notebook, or cereal boxes.
I inked around the edges. By rubbing the edge of the ornament on the ink pad.

I love how they turned out and I even made them for my neighbor, one of each of her boys too. The back has a printed label of "who" and the year.

A peak at the shop

2010-12-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

I hope you haven't given up on this littl blog, its something I really love to do, but rarely manage to find the time. This is one of the 5 little kitchens that I have sold in the shop this year. I think they are darn cute, and easy to make, the sink is a bow. the faucet is a cupbord door handle, and the burners are vinyl, I cut different sized o's for the burners, The populare thing about this is it can be stored under a bed or anywhere really so its not in the way or taking up bedroom space.

Everytime I take one of these into the shop its gone in a flash. I cleaned up some old windows and put this vinyl calendar on it, I made one for myself on a huge white board in my hallway, it is a lifesaver.

my headbands, on that is McKinley's blue desk too. only one scarf left, better get busy.

this is just some of the earings, I made a display on an old door. it works so well.

The necklaces aren't displayed in the most ideal way, but the shop is PACKED, this is just some of my stuff. I have a few other things that already sold so I didn't get any pics of them in time. It has kept me VERY busy, which is a good thing since moving out here would have left me a little bored.... However I am looking forward to the end, and hope it ends in $$$$.

Swords & Headbands for the Shop

2010-11-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

These swords have been a big hit, and they are fun and safe too. $7.

Look at that face!

I have over 30 one of a kind headbands in the "Candy Cane Lane" Holiday Boutique,

I also have all of my new earrings, Necklaces and some of the crayon totes.

If you are in Burley you will want to visit our facebook page and get the details so you can stop by.

There are over 20 different vendors, you can litterally do all your holiday shopping on one place this year!

My most recent project

2010-09-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to refinishing this hutch that used to belong to my grandmother. I am sure she bought it in teh 70's or something. Last summer I painted it white and had it in McKinley's room until I could figure out what to do with it.
I touched up the paint and filled in the holes from the ugly handles. then sanded the corners.

I mixed about a cup of glaze with some black and brown acrylic paint.

intil it looked like this. nit didn't take very much paint at all. and I didn't use all of this, it doesn't take much.

wipe it on real thick and wait a minute or two and start wiping it off. Keep wiping it off until you have the look you want. I spread it really thick into the corners and crevices.

Keep getting a clean rag every once in a while.

Here it is finished. I LOVE IT!!!

Photoshop help and new Jewelry

2010-07-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

WOW sorry thats a bad picture, but I love this bracelet, more like it are in the Etsy shop to the right!

This is my new little invention, its a cluster with a lobster clasp at the top, you can clip it to your favorite chain, Then buy other interchangeable clusters, and save lots of money.

I just got Photoshop for mothers day, I still haven't figured it out(^obviously^). But when I am driving I am constantly looking around me for places to take cook pictures, I have taken a lot of them, but...Now I need to learn how to use Adobe photoshop E8. Do you have a favorite Photoshop help website or a favorite tool that I should try??? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease I am overwhelmed.

Protein/Fiber Bars

2010-06-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I have been playing with a granola bar recipe. I really need a high protein snack in the mornings or I am dragging by early afternoon, and its been a big problem lately. They turned out UH-mazing, and they really work well. We Like them so much better than storebought!

Here is my recipe: (this makes about 18 to 20 bars)

3 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup brown sugar (next time I will try splenda brown sugar)

1 t. baking soda

2/3 cup butter (melted)

1 t. vanilla

**The following ingredients are all optional use whichever you have or like

2 T wheat Germ

2 T ground flax seed

1/2 cup almonds

3/4 cup peanuts

3/4 cup choc.chips

press into a cake pan and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.Let cool for 10- minutes then cut into bars. Let cool completely before removing from pan. If they are too crumbly try addign another 1/3 cup butter, or a large egg this holds them together really well if you are not worried about the extra fat.

I tried to figure the nutitional facts from the labels then divided it by 18. here is what I got ( It is not completely accurate)

fat 15g

calories 275

carbs 20

protien 8

fiber 4

You can try more variations on this (keep in mind I figured the nutitional facts from my above recipe)

* use craisins, coconut and macadamia nuts or almonds

*add a heaping spoonful of Peanut butter instead of butter, add the peanuts and choc chips

*add cinnimon and raisins instead of choc chips.

any other ideas? If you try them let me know what you think.

Winning cookies??

2010-06-23T13:12:00.000-07:00

More cookies, this time for baseball season. I noticed these popcorn bags in my cupboard, I thought they matched so nicely, so I added them to the cookies. I so still feel self concious giving them out, like all the moms are looking at me thinking I am an overachiever. Well I am not an overachiever and I was getting a little stressed out becuase I waited until the last minutes. THEN one mom came and told me her7 year old son said "mom, theses aren't just any treats, these are WINNERS treats". awww how adorable. It was all worth it right there!

Iron on T-shirts

2010-06-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

I found this box of Iron on's at Walmart on clearance for 7.00. Its got many girl logos like on the box, and several more sheets of alphabets to make your own....oh my the possibilities. But first of all would have to be this shirt for Westin. I had been meaning to make a freezer paper stencil for it, but it takes so long to cut out all the letters. So here we go.

For the front I made freezer paper stencil of a bike stunt and ran over it with a toy truck that ran through brown paint. When I showed him he actually got all giddy!!! I realized I had been making too many girl things lately.
This is my practice shirt, I pulled out a shirt that was too small for my 2 year old thought of some letters to put on the front I think it looks cute enough for a present. I will have to send it to some DIE HARD OSU fans.

summertime snacks

2010-06-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

My solution to kids constantly raiding the snack cupboard! I also had several cereals that my kids were tired of. Add chocolate chips, marshmallows, and nuts and its a whole new snack!
the cereals I used were - Chex, golden grahams, cheerios. The kids each have a small container with their name, and they have to stay out of the cupboards!! or ELSE!! I have another list of things they can choose from - yogurt, string cheese, a fruit snack, and an apple. Some days it works, some days I have to remind them or get after them for sneaking stuff.

Toddler Time

2010-06-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

I needed something to entertain these two while I made dinner for 7 kids that night. the older 5 got tired of "babysitting" I realized if I put a box of dirt on the deck, I could easily watch them and they were so entertained for almost an hour. It was the best!! Of course once dinner was ready we ate it outside and then those two got straight in the tub. Since neither one of them have sandboxes at their house it was quite a treat. Last night we did the same thing with a huge bowl of water and measuring cups.

**I am still "Celebrating a Crafty summer" all month long, any other bloggers want to join in? or do you have an idea to add? Just leave me a comment. Especially if you have a tip for keeping these guys busy while I make dinner.

Lego stories 4 kids.

2010-06-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

This will keep the kids busy all day. *warning* some parental involvement required.

Westin age 7 thought of this all by himself. He asked if he could make his own book, and he would get the lego's posed perfect and have me take a picture for him.

Each story had about 4 or 5 pictures in it. So far they are all scripture stories because this happened to be on a Sunday and he wanted to make a book that would be good to read on the sabbath. I love his sweet moments. They are kind of rare these days.

Another book he made was an I spy book(he's a little obsessed with anything I spy). a year ago he would take pictures of toys that he had arranged in a pile. Then another picture of just a few items that you have to look for. I am sorry that I don't have any pictures of that one anymore.

BLOG SWAP WITH NIGHT OWL CRAFTING

2010-06-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hello My Craft Closet followers! I am so thrilled that Becky is letting me take over her cute blog today! I love following her blog and looking at her amazing creations!

Let me introduce myself! My name is Leslie and I am the creator of
Night Owl Crafting.

I started blogging back in 2008 and decided that my personal blog was being over taken by my crafts. So I started my craft blog to share my creations and inspirations that I receive from fellow bloggers and crafters. I host 2 link parties each week. The first one is on Tuesdays and it is called

Hoo are you Tuesdays!

This party is where you answer a few questions I ask each week and then link up your post! This is a party to get to know each other outside the craft world!

The other one is held every Wednesday and it is called

Hoo's got Talent?

This link party is where you can come and show off whatever you have been making!

I hope you will come and link up to both parties! I also am looking for more AMAZING blogs like Becky's to blog swap with me!

Today I want to introduce you to my new favorite product!
WASHI TAPE!

I am loving this product! I have made a few things with it recently!
I first started by making these cute clothes pin magnets! Check out how I made them here!

I then decorated my vases with the Washi tape! If you want to know how to do this click here!

Today I want to show you what I did with Washi Tape using binder clips!

Aren't those cute and so much easier than modge podging paper on!

All you do is cover the binder clip with the tape and fold the extras into the inside!

THANKS LESLIE, I am really glad I have gotten to know Leslie through her blog, she is truly a sweet heart, I am so glad to know about this cool product, but WHERE do we get this stuff??

another J crew inspired shirt.

2010-06-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Here My blog post from blog swap with Night owl Crafting.
My mother and all my grandmothers were seamstresses, and baking pro's. My mother actually made Wedding dresses and had a successful business when I was younger. That is of course where I learned to sew. She even tells me stories about how my grandmother would ride into town with my grandpa and sit in the car in front of the clothing stores and sketch the cute newest fashions, then she would go home and make things out of the hand me downs they were given. I think that is so cool, that she was refashioning back in the 1940's too. They had a small farm and 5 girls and 1 boy. So money was super tight. Right now I am OBSESSED with jewelry and have an etsy shop here above and below is a sampling of the projects I have made recently.
I love to copy ideas from jcrew (below)or anthropologie.

Here is my latest attempt.I started with my husbands pink shirt which I figured he was never going to wear.
I took in the sides, and used the scraps from that and the sleeves to make a ruffle to line the neck area. I also had to make a facing for the neck and arm holes, to hem them. I did this by laying the shirt on the scrap fabric and tracing the curve. easy peasy.

I totally love it. I think it is my new favorite article of clothing, I wore it yesterday and got lots of compliments.
I hope you enjoyed it, Thanks Leslie for letting me blog swap with you and your cute blog! I hope you will all take a look and let me know what you like. Today is the kick- off of my "Crafty Summer" I will be posting something every weekday in June. I hope you will join me.
Becky

what I've been up to.

2010-06-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for the lack of posting, lately I have been so obsessed with finishing unfinished projects that I haven't finished any posts. hahaha. I am going to apologize to you right now. I realize I am probably only talking to myself? Is there anyone out there reading this blog? I guess the reason I started blogging was to feel more organized, so I have a record and pictures of the things I've done. I frequently get asked how to do things, and if I give them the blog address then they know right where to go. I follow more blogs than I can even count... really. So most things I make or have made are allready out there. I like to post my attempts with links to other blogs so my friends can find out how to do it. If my blog has helped or inspired you in anyway. Let me know, I would love to do a post about you, your project, blog etc. I am going to be more on top of things this summer unless if by some miracle we sell our house, :S

Here are a couple of pictures that I meant to blog about and never did.

We (Activity Days) made some of these snakes out of minky and fleece for Humanitarian aid (I made a few more for birthday presents) for humanitarian aid we used fiberfill and for heavier ones, for presents, I used wheat. Because thats what I have a lot of. So far everyone loved them. But then again. I really don't think they would tell me, ummm Becky these are dumb.

I bought this towel and Kohls. I wanted to make one, but I gave in and bought it because I had a coupon. But it would be pretty simple. On the corners it looks like paws. so cute!

Mckinley's spring scarf i made with fabric off the remnant rack. probably cost .50 It is about or 8 inches wide, then sewn into a ring. after that I soaked it in water and wadded it up and sat it in the sun to dry. Here is a good tutorial at ruffles & stuff.

So now I will begin to

Celebrate a "Crafty Summer"

with a new post every weekday in June.

You heard me right.

stuff to make for you, your kids, with your kids, for a neighbor, or to EAT!

I will start tomorrow with a guest post/blog swap with

Night Owl Crafting.

are you a crafter?

Do you want to join me?

Let me know and we can work something out.

see you then!

The Scrunchy shirt tutorial

2010-05-28T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah its finally here!! I really hope I have finally found a way to describe this process in a way you will understand. It is not an exact process, you might want to play with some scraps first, But it is such a fun,fast way to bring LIFE to a shirt.

FIRST you need to start with a shirt that is a little too big. A tight fitted shirt will not work, the scrunching will bring it down about 1/2 a size, depending on how much you do.

Also when choosing the area you want to scrunch, TRY on the shirt, use your hands to wad up the area you want to scrunch. Does it make the neck pull wierd? Does it fit too small or look gross? It will make the bottom of the shirt pull shorter in that area, but that is part of the funky look you get from scrunching.

now after you take it off, outline with a fabric marker or chalk the area you want to work in.
If you have never bought elastic thread this is what it looks like, you will find it in the elastic section. Hand wind your bobbin not tight just pulling a little. Then you will use it just like you would a regular bobbin. Use matching thread on top. Then start sewing.

Here is an example of a pattern I chose. THERE IS NO EXACT PATTERN OR PROCESS TO THIS. Just sew in zig zags or figure 8's until you fill the area. This is the way I ended up doing it because there was less turning, lifting foot, and backing up. It was super easy. Believe me, cause I don't do hard stuff. --The only thing to watch for, is trying to keep the circle areas around the same size, that is where the fabric will pop out.
This tank was SO baggy I decided to do a middle section, I really like it on my bathroom floor, not sure how I like it on me. I added little ribbon flowers to disguise how some of the areas are a little off centered.

ANY QUESTIONS??

Ding Ding Ding *we have a winner.

2010-05-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

The Lucky lady with $30 to spend at Karen's cookies.... Cat who said. "I would get more supas!! Love them supa tubes."
Cat
I will give Karen and Mike your info.
Which has me thinking, hmmm. I better try those! wow. Thanks so much to Karen and Mike for having a giveaway. They are so awesome and they have a great business. I love how they listen to their customers, and their wants and needs.

This is what I did yesturday for my kids' teachers.

Thanks for your inspiration Karen!!

jcrew re-make "the sunray tee"

2010-05-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hurry, today is the last day for my most awesome GIVEAWAY yet. So get signed up NOW!! For a chance to win a $30 gift card to spend at Karens Cookies.

Here is my cheep version.

the tee was $5 at Downeast, I got one for me, another for my daughter, and another XXL to cut up. when cutting it up always get the biggest size you can, the more fabric the better.

Here is a picture of my friend Katie, wearing the scrunchy shirt that she is still trying to steal from me. We are going to scrunch everything we can get our hands on this weekend. My tutorial was a total bust, I am starting over. sorry.

Giveaway Deadline.

2010-05-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about maybe giving this giveaway a deadline?? haha. I think Wednesday the 26th will be the best day for me. I will be celebrating my last day of teaching pre-school, and Karen is about to celebrate the opening of her KAREN'S COOKIES store front, in Idaho Falls. I can't believe it, it is going to be so cute, can you picture a wall filled with every kind of cookie cutter, and shelves filled with cute little sprinkles of all kinds of shapes. ahhhh.
So the deadline will be Wednesday the 26th at midnightish.

A HUGE thank you to my new friend Leslie, at Night Owl Crafting, she is so sweet and made me a new button to go with this adorable background. How nice is she, well too nice thats for sure. If she lived closer I would make her a Karen's cookies Bouquet!

Happy Sunday.

Cookie Decorating Kits: GIVEAWAY

2010-05-17T17:56:00.000-07:00

$30.00 Gift Certificate to Karen's Cookies, for Cookie Decorating supplies, or kits.

Have you ever been to KarensCookies.net ? If you have not you should definately check it out. She is amazing. I mean an absolute genius. I blogged about her here a while back.

Her website contains, almost any cookie cutter you can imagine, in fact Martha Stewart herself is very fond of Karen's buffalo cookie cutter for her bicuits. Wouldn't this Halloween bouquet be fun to decorate you home, or haunt your neighbors with?

I am thinking this would be AWESOME for mothers day, or teacher appreciation.
I made these pizza cookies for my sons 11th birthday. We were caked out from all the birthdays in our family and he requested cookies. It was a pizza popcorn and a movie themed party. and they turned out cute. This is the actual picture of the one I made, Karens are a lot better. But as you can see anyone can do it.
I actually did something similar to this to thank one of my kids coaches.

Well Karen not only sells everything you need for these awesome gifts, but she has recipes, tips, and even video tutorials for a lot of different techniques.

This talented girl is a friend of mine and offered to have a giveaway on my blog. The giveaway is for a $30 Gift certificate. It can be done electronically, or she can send it to you if you want to use it as a gift for someone you know who loves to bake.

If I won I would get this cutter and a set of all the food colorings,

#1 Become a Follower of Becky's Craft Closet and Go to KarensCookies.net and tell me in a comment of something you would like to have from her shop.

Thats is pretty easy. If you want another entry, you can

#2. BLOG about it. If your friends mention your blog post I will give you and them an extra entry. Be sure to leave me your blog address.

Good luck, I am crossing my fingers for you.

SCRUNCHY

2010-05-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

I know I saw this shirt on J Crew, I just can't find it anymore. it was SO fun and EASY!! I had to go to the mall and find more shirts to scrunch last night. Should I make a tutorial?? Let me know if you want it.

*** THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN, AND I AM WORKING ON A TUTORIAL TONIGHT ***

J Crew look alike

2010-05-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

I have been surfing the net for cute ideas for shirts. here is one that cost me $1.49.

J Crews version

the one I made for McKinley, after seeing this gal do it on "I am momma hear me roar".
A blog I totally love and you should too if you like to create for your little boys.

This was a long sleeved tee so I used cute up the sleeves for extra fabric.

Messy Ruffle Collar Dress Shirt tutorial

2010-05-10T11:48:00.000-07:00

I started with this dress shirt I had, It fit great other than the sleeves were too short, as always... So I started playing with it, shirt this nice shouldn't be sitting in the back of my closet for another 5 years. When I decided what the problem was, the sleeves, and the fact that I don't like boy dress collars on me, I cut them off.

I used a strip of whited knit to make some binding for the collar. I thought it would be the best way to avoid fraying. It will pretty much be covered up though.

I cut strips from an old pink t-shirt I had in my fabric stash. twice the length of the neckline, and about 1 3/4 to 2" wide. I went around the neckline tucking as I go rather than ruffling it. I wanted it to be a little messy looking, I was afraid if it was too uniform it would look really young. Here it is...

Let me know if you try it. I would love to see it, and post your picture here.

Carnation Tutorial

2010-05-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

This is what we woke up to this morning. I think Mother Nature is taking an extended vacation for Mothers Day. HelOOOOOOOOO. Don't forget about us!!! So out to the garage I go, to look for the tote with the winter coats hats and gloves. Trouble is. It takes about 4 totes for a family of 6, so, being in a hurry so the kids won't miss the bus means a huge mess in the garage, but it was 30 degrees. I will clean it up later. I will probably just hang it all back up in the front closet for our surprise memorial day snowstorm.... right mother nature???? Well it will be a great day for catching up on my blogging.

I made a carnation Bouquet for Preschool. The kids will each give their mom a flower at our tea party.

The supplies you will need, simple....

-coffee filters

-skewers

-tape

-ink, or paint and a sponge (all optional)

fold 4 coffee filters in half

fold it in 1/3rds, zig zag style like so. You may want to staple it at the bottom (vertically) I didn't and I just had to use extra tape at the end.

then it should look like this from above.

use tape to secure the skewer in one of the folds,

fold it up and use a lot of tape at the bottom of the flower.

I used ink on the edge, the color? its called pink carnation. HA. I was experimenting and painted the skewers green, you could also add leaves, but my preschool kids voted "No".

Amazing Hand Cream

The class helped me to make the hand cream that they will give their moms. These are the ingredients.

- One tub vaseline

-one bottle baby lotion, You can find unscented at walmart

-one or two tubs of Vitamin E cream.

the Vitamin E cream is cheapest at Family dollar. $1.49. For my own kids I only use 1 of the vitamin E cream. I have a son with Sever dry skin, we're talking cracking and bleeding if he doesn't use this every night.

This is embarrassing, I am not a digi scrapper (yet) I don't even have printshop (yet) so I have to come up with a cute way to decorate these.

This recipe cost me $8.00 total and will make 15 of the baby food jars (for my preschool class) and 2 of the CUTE Kerr jars, found in the canning isle, they are 4 for 4$ at walmart, I just love them, I will give them to... well you know who, it mothers day right?

The mothers will come for a light brunch of chicken salad croissants and chocolate dipped strawberries, while the children sing a couple adorable mothers day songs, and present them with these gifts as Mel and I read what they have to say about their moms, Here are some of the best answers.

How old is your mom? one child answered "Well I know she is not 11, so she must be 12" another confidently answered "80".

What is your moms favorite thing to do? one child said "watch me play video games", another said, "making food for me" and another said "doing the dishes" and anther said "kissing daddy, she kisses him a lot". hahahahah.

Pre-school should be a blast tomorrow !!

pants to a skirt

2010-05-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

I have been having a blast making these cute little skirts. First cut off the pants just above the knee.

Second, cut the inseam all the way, and next you will make about a 2: cut up the back and front of the pants, cut as close to the seam as possible.

Where you made the cut in the croch you will over lap them and pin. Yes it looks a little wierd, but that is when the appliqueing comes in. take a small piece of the pant leg that you have left and pin it in the open space, back and front, then sew then into place. I am sorry I forgot to take a picture of that part.

when everything is stitched you can cut the bottom of the skirt to make it evevn and the right length.

You can hem it, you can add a ruffle. or my favorite.... APPLIQUE. I will have a tutorial up for that by wednesday.

If you make one let me know so I can feature a picture of it here on my blog.

What I've been up to.

2010-04-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

I have been making jewelry even in my sleep. These are just samplings of what I will have at the "BIG SHOW" on Thursday. Then maybe life will get back to "normal". My normal is not anyone else's normal, but whatever.

I got most of my ideas of the Anthro-and Jcrew websites. They have some awesome stuff.

*** I have had some questions about the rings, I found this -blog- used the EXACT SAME technique and we even made one of the rings the same. I got my buttons at Jo Ann's and Hobby Lobby. If you make some share a picture, I can even put it on my blog. Have fun!!

and I am so addicted to making stuff. I challenged myself to only use what I have and make NO trips to the craft store. Mostly because I have way to much stuff I need to use up and also because I might not do this again, so I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of stuff that I am not going to use.

This flower made of a black zipper is one of my favorites. It looks awesome with a plain white t-shirt and a cute skirt. I don't know if I can pull it off, but I am really trying to be that kinda girl. we shall see, if I don't sell it, I will try it an let you know.

I have done a few sewing projects, and I even took pictures at different stages, but when I downloaded my pics I laughed, I have been so stressed out that I ddidn't get pics of each stage of all of them, They are really random. I got the first few pics of one project, and the ending of another project. ughhhh. When can I have my brain back, I feel like it was abducted by aliens. I am starting to think it will always be like this. Have a nice week,

Old But new again.

2010-04-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

My kids NEVER WEAR OUT THEIR CLOTHES, I MEAN -N E V E R-. They grow so dang fast that if there is a hole in something, there must have been a mishap on the playground. I guess its nice. Wait, no its not, I spend so much more money on clothes than my friends do, it is really frustrating to me. One funny fact. Me my husband and our 3 kids in school, (12,10,&7) Have never been in a class picture where we weren't in the last row. I don't think any of us are awkwardly freakishly tall,... just tall..... Whats my point???

Highwaters.... yep I can't stand 'em. Its always been my pet peeve, if I can see their socks, I might as well stick a pocket protector in their shirt, then scrape my nails down a chalkboard. I have tried to turn it around for this spring. I am not going to buy this girl any more shorts or capri's, I am hacking off her highwaters, (that look like new cause I just bought them and then she grew). She modeled her new capri's for me the other day, and this skirt that I made from a pair of pants, and a ton of appliques. I love them, and so does she. She loves to be different

I am making a tutorial to show you how to make your own, but if you don't like to applique or sew on denim, click on my etsy shop I only have these made up so far, but like I said, I have plenty more I can make.

check back in a few days for my tutorial, and if you choose to buy one in my shop. Let me know if you would like a pair of earings or a hair clip, The sunshine makes me want to give stuff away.!!

New school bag and Beached T's

2010-04-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

McKinley was really wanting a Messenger style bag for school, I kept finding her looking through the house for different bags to use. There was nothing wrong with her perfectly nice backpack that I paid $59.00 for. (and then got a $59.00 rebate for)

hmmm, I have been seeing some cute bags out there on the craft blogs, maybe I can try something new... I have lots of Denim, which is mice and heavy, so... I wanted to make the pockets of the jeans as functional as possible.
I sewed a strip of denim to the inside lining to make 3 pockets.

and sewed the front so that the pockets would be useful, I wanted to take out the button and zipper part, I thought it would look less like a pair of jeans, but it didn't really matter. I am still glad I did, I sewed it with the seams out, and clipped them so that they could fray in a cool way. She is in heaven. And the flap that closes it is just some owl fabric with a lining in it.

Here are some almost one of a kind shirts I made for Westin and Rawlin, all it took was bleach.

For this one I layed a garbage bag inside to keep it from bleeding through. Then I poured the bleach on with a baster, and only let it sit for about 20 minutes. It turned this bluish color in spot. I like it, but Westin LOVES it.

For this one I used a bleach pen. You find them in the laundry isle made by Chlorox, it sat for about 30 minutes. I have gooten a lot of compliments on it.

Both of these plain T's can be found at Walmart for only $3.

I got the ideas from Aly&Ash, You must check hers out they REALLY look AWESOME not homemade at all!

I am Momma hear me ROAR, made some too, she has a great tutorial for using the bleach pen. You need to take a look at her freezer paper stenciled shirts too. They are crazy good!

New Skirt

2010-04-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

I have loved these Silvers for many years. I almost loved them to death. THere is a grease stain on the left leg, and the right knee is about one or two thread from being an actual hole. I can't believe they are still holding up.

Once I saw what Alida did with some jeans, I knew exactly what to do. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them. I am worried about how they will look on me. But I am going to wear them all summer, no matter what. Okay so hers were WAY cuter, but I needed something longer.

Here it is, She is also having a contest so lucky me. I can enter this awesome skirt. woot woot.

Capri's and a t-shirt.

2010-04-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a shirt for my nephew that wouldn't look homemade. So I added a strip to the sleeve. I just used a little strip of the ribbing.

I used some brown and some monkey flanned for the t's. T is for Tait. I tried it on my Rawlin (I think the monkey/banana fabric made him think he needed a banana, and he didn't even eat it). I think it looks pretty good?? Its a little big on him so I think it will be perfect for Tait the Tank. It will soon be on its way to my favorite sister in law. Oh and that guy she married. pffft, who took her so far away from me. But then again I do need to thank him for marrying someone I could Love so much.

These pants have the Funniest story. But I'll give you the made up version, When I was visiting our friends in Wa, I noticed their little girl was wearing a pair of jeans that we handed down to her. But sadly the were highwaters and summer is on the way.

so I brought them home with me to make into capri's for her. It is her birthday month after all. If you have any othesr I would be happy to fix them into shorts or capri's Kristen. It was rediculously easy.

Tada! Happy Birthday Sydnee!

Finding Nemo Cake

2010-04-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

I made this for my neighbor Lucas. He LOVES NEMO. I made this before for Chase, but we perfected it this time. Above is Lukeee, and Rawlin enjoying the, as Rawlin pronounces it, Meo cake. 2 Terrific 2 year olds.

bake a rectangle cake, dump upside down, and cool. The whole center stuck to the pan, but it really doesn't matter, a fish is not flat anyway right? I pieced it back as much as I can. If you are in a hurry, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes before cutting off the corners.

I ended up using some frosting to piece the tail fin together to make it the right shape and size.

My mom and sister have both been professional wedding cake decorators. A very big tip is to keep a bowl or glass of water nearby to dip your knife in.

First spread plenty of frosting on it. Then go back over it with a thinner layer, cleaning off the knife every few strokes and wetting it. This is how you cover up the crumbs from the cake that get in the first layer. That is also why you need to keep the knife clean and wet, to get rid of crumbs and frosting that is starting to dry.

I used another clean knife to go over top of the orange with some white for the stripes. You have to be flexible and let the frosting decide how the shape of the stripe is going to be. The eye and dark lines are out of dark chocolate brownie topping that was bought at the store.

I think he is so cute.

chocolate dipped bananas

2010-04-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

I needed to use up a bunch of bananas quickly. I thought hmmm... maybe I could melt a piece of that giant chocolate bar I can't seem to use up and be mother of the year!! I cut the bananas in half first.

So when they got off the bus after school and started for the junk food. I got them out.
They were a huge hit. I think I will do this more often. Mother of the year only lasted about 10 minutes then it was back to whining and complaining.

T-shirt Appliques.

2010-03-27T07:53:00.000-07:00

I recently have has so much fun trying to figure out how to do some appliques onto Rawlins shirts. He is going to need some summer clothes. Here (Puddle Jumpin Designs)is the link for the truck appliques, she has several others and was so awesome to put up the printable pattern for all of us. Jenny you rock. I think her blog has the cutest name!

pattern for easiest boy shirt

2010-03-27T07:26:00.000-07:00

First of all you catch him doing this. YES, its time to do a crafty something.
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I pulled out this pattern I made. I cut up a stained T-shirt he had, that still fit. I traced it onto a plastic dollar store table cloth. Which is much better than newspaper or tissue paper. It will last forever. you will need teh front, the back, and a sleeve pattern.
these are my pieces I cut out of 2 of my old shirts, Now you can see how simple it is to put together. First sew the 4 shoulder seams.

Then pin up the sides and sew them, you are amost done. Since I used 2 of my shirts I used the botton seams so I have NO HEMMING TO DO. The ribbing is all we have left.

For the ribbing sew the ends together. fold it in half. and pin it around, it will be smaller than the neck hole, this is why pinning is important. You need to stretch it while you sew, and pinning will help make sure it comes out even. I don't explain things very well. Are there any questions.

I used the same pattern for this shirt. I like this one better. I am going to be making quite a few of them out of some awesome adult shirts I got on clearance of marvel characters. I am going to remake them to fit the little boys. They are so excited and the shirts were only $2. Pretty cool for some one of a kind super hero shirts.

Cabinet Face-lift.

2010-03-16T11:49:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post a picture so some of the things I will miss most about my house. Lets just get it over with before I get all emotional a couple months from now.
We redecorated EVERYTHING 4 years ago when we moved in. No huge remodeling the house was only 8 years old but it was NOT our style at all. So here is our kitchen before.

The walls got painted and some wierd trim got taken off the top of the cabinets.

New light fixtures, I LOVE these pendulum, it feels so reastauranty.Refinishing the cupboards is much easier than I imagined. If you are ever debating wether to refinish or buy new. It is totally worth it to try first. It is fairly inexpensive and we did it in one weekend. As far as the stain glaze mixture I would recommend you talk to a cabinet maker or a painter you trust, The color mixture is never the same, since you have to consider you starting color AND the color you want the for the finished look. My favorite things in the kitchedn are my new Jars, they are huge. and the radio I can't cook without it. we kept waiting for the stove to break so we could finally have all stainless, but it never happened.

Fabric flowers Tutorial

2010-03-12T06:40:00.000-08:00

This is the project I worked on last week. I turned this huge womens XL Tunic into a dress for McKinley. It really didn't require much work except making it fancier and shortening the shoulder straps. I did a tutorial for the Rosettes on Floral Showers Check it out.

Plus a Little Flash back friday before I leave on my "GIRLS WEEKEND" oh yeah. Don't be jealous, if you knew how much I needed this you would feel sorry for me.

I wish my mom would make me another shirt like this in my size now. I can't believe we are starting to repeat the 80's?!?!? WHAT?!? This picture is 1983 or 84.

Have a lovely weekend! Thanks to my Hubby for letting me have some GIRL time and for even booking me and my bff's a hotel room?? at the Hilton.... Love ya sweetie. and good luck with the monsters.

A few new things.

2010-03-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

The Abigail Necklace. I wanted something springy. This necklace may be young. So I made it 25 inches. so it would be the longer style on a young lady or shorter style for a more mature woman. (ha that meand old in polite language right?) I think I will make the earrings smaller. hmmm. This will be in my shop soon.

The Kate Necklace. shorter style can be lengthened. The chain itself is only about 20" Anything you purchase in my shop can be altered in length for a minimal fee. Sometimes for free.

This necklace I LOVE LOVE LOVE. I had to name it the Kristin Sue. she will know exactly why. although I think Sunnie already has dibbs. I will be making more in this style. Adding fabric flowers to jewelry is so much fun. It is all over at the NAME brand websites too.

If you have any requests of something you would like to see in my shop or a custom order I can happily take them at any time. I will only be doing custom orders for the next two months, after that I may have to take time off for moving. ((YIKES))

I will be adding MANY things to my shop later today. Including several beaded watchband kits.

Meet My new crafty friend.... Anne!

2010-03-08T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is so exciting for me. (I know I get excited easily) but I decided I really wanted to do some blog swaps and get to know other crafters who I feel like I have a lot in common with. So I asked Anne first, and guess what she said yes. I love the tutorial she did for us. I mean really, I love it. Just to prove how much we have in common, I actually got stuff out to make clippies sat, and then realized my daughter is to old. but I think she would really love these small and sweet little hair accessories.

So without further ado. Meet my new craft blog buddy ANNE

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Hi to all the readers at Becky's Craft Closet!!!

I am so excited that Becky wanted to blog swap with me today! My name is Anne and I blog over at FloralShowers.com I am pretty much a craft fanatic...I especially love to crochet and sew (although, I don't like sewing anything too complex---sleeves, zippers, that kind of thing is not exactly my forte. :-) I am the mother of 2 cute kids, and the wife of a super hard working and handsome guy. And I think I am addicted to blogging. I'm trying to cut back----but we'll see how that goes.

So today I thought I would share a simple tutorial on how to make felt flower hair clips. (I have been on a bit of a flower kick lately so that's what you get! he he.)

So here is what you will need:

* Felt circles cut into various sizes and shapes (and of course you will want lots of colors)
* Buttons
* Alligator Hair Clips
* Ribbon
* Needle & Thread
* Hot glue gun (not pictured. ha ha.)

1. After you cut out your felt circles, hand sew them together to form a cute little flower:

Then cut out and sew up a few more :-)

2. Then hot glue coordinating ribbon onto your alligator clip: (The flat side is the side that will go against your head...and if you are making this for someone with fine hair, you may want to leave this side "ribbon free" as it will help the clip not fall out.)

3. Now all you have to do is glue your cute ribbon covered alligator clip onto the back of your cute flowers

and then Voila! You are done! How easy what that!?!

Here are a few other tutorials I have on my blog that you may be interested in checking out! Make sure you say hi, and let me know you came from Becky's Closet!

How to Make a Ribbon Flower

How to Make a Baby Shower Wreath (Also, check out the baby wreath that Becky made using my tutorial!)

Thanks again Becky for letting me post on your awesome blog!!!

Washer Necklaces tutorial

2010-03-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

This is the first type of washer necklace I made. Its not quite as easy as it sounded, so I am here to give you some pointers on what I learned.
The metal stamp kit was only 5.95 at Harbor Freight and washers are about a quarterish?? but buy way more than you need. You will have many mistakes trying to get it just right. But the first step is the most important.
1. Take some Ibuprofen for the headache you are about to get from all the pounding!!

2. Hold the stamp toward the bottom. Double check to make sure it is right-side up etc. I tried to stamp all of my kids names in a circle. For some reason I have never been able to get the w to work...ever..? and I had to abreviate McKinley to Mck. Well she is used to that anyway. Hammer it 5 to 10 times, or a couple of times HARD. Experiment with this.
3. The last step is to color the whole thing in black permanent marker, a few minutes later wipe it off using hairspray.

4. To hang it I wrapped the washer in wire, and attached a jumpring to the wire, and the ring to the necklace. Then I hung a bead from the wire using a head pin. I got many compliments on it.

The other thing I did this weekend was make a few headbands. I have finally convinced McK. that big flowers are cute in her hair, but with her short hair they need to be on a headband. I will show more on the How to later, but I needed somewhere to put them and found that a skinny mouthed vase works best. I pulled this out of the back of my cupboard and was so happy, now I can display this vase I bought from and artist on the beach in Costa Rica. It makes me smile. :)

Seriously Slimey

2010-03-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

The recipe from Kid concoction is right HERE.
The kids had WAY too much fun at preschool on this day. FYI - if you leave the mixtures together longer than a minute it will be more like flubber and less like slime. Its tempting to leave it in there because its still seems like glue but just pull it out and start working the mess out on the table. As you can see we moved class up to my kitchen on this day. It was fun to clean up.

Trash to treasure

2010-03-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a project from last summer I just came across the pics. Someone was actually throwing this out. Well as I looked closer, maybe they had a point. It had been COVERED in pen and marker. Even the fabric boxes were all drawn on.

...........................

One can of spray paint and one spool of ribbon later....... I cut off the leather handles and replaced them with black ribbon. Then I used no sew glue to attach ribbon in the shape of rectagles for labels. leavinga gap to slide paper in.

I love they turned out. I like storing toys vertically since we are always in need of space.

Turning my shirt into her shirt

2010-02-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

From this cute white dress shirt

to this long shirt to wear with leggings

unpick the collar and cut off the sleeves. Then take it in on the sides.

by either measuring the child or using a shirt that already fits lay it on the shirt you are working with so you can know how much to cut off the top, so its not too hue in the neck. oops I forgot to take a picture of the collar, you will need to measure the neckline and take the collar in (I took a section out in teh back) to fit.

Next using that same example shirt cut back where the sleeves should go. You can tell from this picture I didn't measure. DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO. I had to do some fixing to get them the same.

I didn't take any width out of the sleeves, I did make them shorter though. If you make the sleeves shorter make sure you cut the top in the same angle as the previous edge. These sleeves were fitting on me, so I gathered them on the top 1/2 of the sleeve and pinned it to fit the hole. This made it so easy, I am sorry I forgot to take a pic. If this doesn't make sense please e-mail me.

I folded a pleat in the cuff of the sleeve to make it fit her. It looks like it was suposed to be there all along.

I had to make new slits on the sides. This is how you make a slit.

1. Iron the seem open, on the upper part of the side seems. then when you get to the slit part (on the right) you keep ironing it as if it were sewn together. this will be weere you sew. Where I placed the pin you will back stich a time or two and go down the other side.

Please forgive me sometimes I have a hard time explaining things. Just give it a shot then it will make better sense. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

**Yep my bathroom floor has pink tile, I also have a pink toilet. HA......I know your jealous.

Fancified tank top

2010-02-25T18:53:00.000-08:00

I LOVE how this turned out and probably would have never tried it if it weren't for Disney at Ruffles and stuff. She has a tutorial here.

By the way, with all the shirts I've altered/embelished I was so worried to wash them, but I need to tell you that they look better and better after washing. So go ahead try it.

Baby shower

2010-02-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a Busy busy day. Here are the Elmo cupcakes we made for Rawlins 2nd Birthday. The eyes are a peanut M&M lucky I had white ones left over from Valentines. And the nose is an easter Egg Whopper, Luckily Easter candy is allready out. These might be harder to make later in the year?? I guess you could just get creative.

But before the B-day party we must have a cute little baby shower. I think it turned out purfect. It was a small get together of friends to congratulate a Sweet Friend on her 5th baby. She finally got her 2nd girl. I am excited for her but kinda jealous too.

This welcome wreath is an idea I got from Anne at floralshowers. No one could doubt they were at the right house.

And the Tissue Paper pom pom fom Martha Stuart. WoW... They were so much bigger than I thought. There was no need for any other decorations.

The only other decoration I needed was a center piece, since we all fit around my table and ate cinnamon rolls. I had a brilliant idea when walking through walmart ..the day after valentines day. I stocked up on m&m's then just took out the red ones. I thought lemon heads would be cute with it. I probably could have found cuter dishesd but I was in a hurry.

Wow, I just realized I am at 100 posts! hmmm AND My Birhday is one week from today, I think I will give something away!? It will be a surprise and all you have to do is be a follower. so go ahead

follow me!

Cute cakes of Birthdays Past

2010-02-21T16:50:00.000-08:00

I just found the file that contained all these birthday pics, I thought it would be nice to have them all togehter on here.

Cute clown, by Grandma (mt mom)
Polly Pocket, Must be by grandma (my mom)because my writing is no where near that nice.
I made this beach cake with a Polly Pocket
I think my Mom did this one too, McKinley says its her all tiem favorite!
Crayon Box, with Crayon candles, Have a Colorful Birthday. Again my moms writing she must have done that one too.
I did this one and remember it very well. Chase really wanted Nemo the year it came out. It was so much fun to make.

t-shirt embelished.

2010-02-20T22:13:00.000-08:00

This was another shirt I got on that amazing day at Old Navy. It was $1.24. It was awkwardly long. I mean REAL long. so I was able ot cut about 5 inches off and re-hem it and it was still LONG. I used the extra 5 inches to put a small piece to cover up the deep v neck and a skinny strip to make a ruffle to go on the left shoulder. Its the style I see all over J-crew and Anthropology sites.

I am working on 3 different tutorials that I hope to have up this week. from little boy stuff to girly stuff. .... Stay tuned.

Attention Crafty bloggers

2010-02-17T14:02:00.000-08:00

One of my fellow craft bloggers is asking for out help. I have been following her for a while, but I had no idea she was an Irag war widow. She is approaching the 2 year anniversary and has decided to help other widows by making grief journals. If you can make one or more for her she would greatly appreciate it.

go here "I Make Stuff" to read more and get any other info on it.

Chicken Tortilla soup

2010-02-17T12:52:00.000-08:00

I am hungry maybe I will post about food. This is another recipe I always get asked about. Bear with me, I don't think I've ever written it down. This makes a LARGE crockpot full.

CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP

1 can chicken broth
1 can refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
3/4 cup salsa
cooked chopped chicken breast
salt and pepper to taste. If my husband is home I will add some extra salsa or half an onion so he knows I was thinking of him.

We always eat this with tortilla strips and sometimes cheese and sour cream.

So cute!!

2010-02-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Ansley's mommy wanted a little sewing lesson. Sew we got to work. I showed her two different ways to make skirts.

The easiest one was an apple and pear fabric and we cut the fabric in a rectangle of about 12" inches by 24".
This will fit a 9 month old cutie! We added ribbon to the bottom and made a casing at the top for the elastic. Which was measured to fit. I know there are many tutorials out there for skirts, if you need help finding a god one let me know.

Then we appliques a couple of flowers to the top to make a whole matching outfit. I had a pair of pink tights too small for Mckinley. snip snip then we had some sweet leg warmers for baby girl to wear while its still cold. When she showed up to church she was sporting a cute pink jacket over it. IT WAS ...A D O R A B L E....