Easy gift idea

I take no credit for this idea, it was all my daughter Charlotte. Who is 8 years old. If she had her own Pinterest she would easily surpass me in followers, she is that cool:)

It was her idea to put two carnations into a Starbucks cup, and surprisingly it was beautiful! 

Attach a gift card with ribbon and you have a great easy gift!

Thank you sweet Charlotte. 

 

Ugly outlet cover solution

I came up with this idea awhile ago, and I made mental note to put this in my "invention notebook", the one that does not exist. I keep on meaning to write down all of my genius ideas, but they are so fleeting, and I always forget:)! Anyway, this was one of those ideas.

That outlet is ugly, cream, and right in my face.

See, it may seem like nothing to most, but my counter height electrical outlets drive me nuts. I often find myself plugging in those small wall wax warmers just to stick something in them.

Then I thought, "why not a picture frame?".  I thought of using a frame with an outlet plug cover to jazz things up.

A quick trip to the Dollar Tree was in order to gather my supplies. I needed a lightweight 4x6 picture frame, lightweight and cheap!

This is what I decided on. Pretty basic.

Back view

 Next I removed the cheapo stand, a quick pull and it was gone, leaving a nice flat back.

Photo stand removed

 I then held my frame up to the wall outlet to see where I should position the outlet cover (that we all have leftover from when our babies were sticking their fingers where they shouldn't).

Position and THEN glue

 I then simply hot glued the outlet plug onto the back of the frame, and there you have it!

Add a photo!

Add a printable (I have a chalkboard "You Are My Sunshine" print in this picture)

Easily use it as a dry erase board. Just insert plain or patterned paper into the frame and use a dry erase marker in the glass!

Hope you enjoyed this easy project!

Becky Higgins inspired monthly frame idea

I take NO credit for coming up with this idea, it originally came from Project Life creator Becky Higgins! I did however, add my own touches:). The basic idea is to have 12 monthly frames and use a picture that sums up that month. October-Halloween, May-preschool graduation, January-new bangs for my 5 year old, etc!

Here is what I started with, a 16x14 frame that holds an 8x10 photo. The frames were bought from Target on 70% off clearance. They were around $8 with my Redcard. 

I then calculated the spacing (my non mathematical brain really enjoyed this) and hung them up. 

I then used my laser printer to make the month tags and also my pictures. I decided to print them all in black and white, with the current month in color. 

I love it! What do you think?

Romantic belt tutorial

Lately while at my thrift store (I can call it that since the ladies that work there like to have my kids call them Aunt "whatevertheirnameis", I love that place!) I have been buying any wide belt that I can get my hands on.

I mean, the belts are only 99 cents, quite a bargain. Even cheaper is when you discover in your own closet a slew of your own quite outdated belts. I may have even squeaked in delight when I saw some thin, probably fake leather, belts of my own. So I grabbed some embroidered trim I've had for years, my glue gun, and made something fabulous.

Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway!!! :)

Here is what you will need:

• Eyelet trim, mine is about 2.5 inches wide
• A thin belt
• glue gun
• sewing machine (you can probably just glue the whole thing to be honest)

Measure from the belt hole (?) you are most likely to use to right before the loop on the oppisite side.
Multiply that number by 1.6.

Cut 2 pieces of eyelet trim using your above number.

Sew or serge these 2 pieces right sides together.

Ruffle this piece, setting your machine to the longest stitch and highest tension. On my machine this is 9 tension and 5 stitch length.

Fold over the ends of the trim and sew for a nice finished hem.

Lay the ruffle flat now, smooth, and make sure that it fits the belt, between the holes and the buckle.

Start glueing! To make this easy I first glued the ends and worked my way in. Then I glued one side at a time. Take care to keep the ruffle centered!

Voila, you're done!

 While I was trying to get some pics of the belt, the little one wanted some love!

 Linked to the following parties!
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com/
http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/
http://www.somewhatsimple.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://thehillsarelivin.blogspot.com/
http://itsahodgepodgelife.blogspot.com/
http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekend-wrap-up-party-and-sugar-and.html

Tree branch earrings and a GIVEAWAY!

Lately I have been looking at our fireplace, dreaming of fires that will never get started. You see, we have a wood burning fireplace with a crazy draft so we have it covered and blocked. In the eight years we have been here in this house we've had about 2 or 3 fires. Dead serious. So what to do with all of this firewood?

I am thinking about painting the owl all white. What do you think?

Make earrings! In the past I showed you how to make buttons out of tree branches and this is basically the same idea. Of course you can always make the buttons and glue them to an earring post. That is what I am going to do in addition to this earring.

Here is what you will need:

• Tree branch or twig/ log
• Hand saw or miter saw
• Mod Podge
• Earring hooks
• Jewelry pliers 
• Drill
• Jump rings
• Scrap paper if desired

1. First you cut your tree branch, mine is about 1.75- 2". Cut it about 1/8" thick.
2. Drill a hole into the top of the earring, fairly close to the top to accommodate a jump ring.
3.  Cut out your image onto scrap paper...endless possibilities!
4. Mod Podge your paper onto the earring. I also made a plain pair that I just lacquered. Equally pretty!
5. Mod Podge over the whole earring and let dry!
6. Attach jump ring and hook
7. Wear and enjoy!

 Now for the GIVEAWAY! You can win any of the following necklaces and 2 winners will be chosen. All you have to do is:

Follow me via Google Friend Connect and let me know which necklace you would choose. ***EDIT- since I am giving away 2 necklaces, please put your 1st and 2nd choices in your comment:). I didn't think that through, haha!***

That's it! Good luck! Oh, and let's close the giveaway on November 16th!

The choices:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Linked to:
http://thegirlcreativepartyblog.blogspot.com/
http://sewcando.blogspot.com/
The DIY Showoff
http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/
http://beckieandbrad.blogspot.com/
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.mybackyardeden.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.luckystarlane.com/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/
http://www.thethriftyhome.com/

Poinsettia headband tutorial

It is beginning to look a teeny bit like Christmas around here. Thanks to the toy catalogs that come early in the mail, Charlotte is REALLY excited. I am not going to lie, I am too! I brought the Christmas cd's out of storage and bought a few new ones this weekend. Yes, I was suckered into ordering Mariah Carey's new Christmas and the new Now Christmas album as well...but I am not ashamed:)!

Anyway, this weekend Charlotte and I went through all of the Christmas storage boxes to see what we had before we start buying more. Very wise. We found some stationery that I bought for her letters to Santa, and we wrote and mailed her list!

***In case you are wondering what is on her list, or need gift ideas for little girls, here is what she wrote. Baby All Gone, a Cinderella doll, a Rapunzel hair braiding doll, and Zoobles. She has no clue what Zoobles are and neither do I:)! I Santa of course have my has his own list for her, haha. ***

Of course Charlotte found all of the singing Elmo's and Rudolph's and has been pressing my their buttons ever since!

So in the spirit of the holidays I whipped up a little tutorial for you! Charlotte loves this headband that I made for her and I do too. It really was so easy and looks lovely!You can use this pattern and make barrettes, holiday embellishments, headbands, bracelets...endless possibilities.

Poinsettia headband

 Supply list

• green felt
• red felt
• hot glue gun or any glue really
• a headband, I use the ones that come in a pack of 5 and are different colors
• my poinsettia template
• buttons for the center of the flowers, I used a snowflake button. You could also use white or yellow felt for the center.

1. Cut out your felt using my template!
2. Begin gluing starting with the green leaves, overlapping so that you have 8 leaves instead of 4 showing.
3. Repeat with the red, layering biggest to smallest. 
4. Finish with a button for the center. 
5. Enjoy!

Have fun making these for all the little pretties on your life! Oh, and please only make these for personal use and for gifts. Pretty please?

Linking to the following parties:




http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/
http://sewcando.blogspot.com/
http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
http://www.thegypsyscorner.com/
http://beckieandbrad.blogspot.com/
http://thetrendytreehouse.blogspot.com/
http://www.mybackyardeden.com/
http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.luckystarlane.com/
http://733blog.blogspot.com/
http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/
http://www.thethriftyhome.com/