Check out this amazing resource!

I've just spent the best few minutes working on my blog... and it was so easy to make changes to the HTML code! It seems like a lifetime ago that I spent time building websites from scratch. Now it seems that (after having two kids) my brain cells can't remember anything about HTML anymore! But, with the help of Kristin's website Ladybug's Teacher Files I just changed two small things about my blog.



Can you find the changes? That's right!! I now have numbers for my comments and a cute little talking bubble to point you towards the comment link. I've very proud of these definite improvements! Kristen walks you through step by step in her awesome videos. Just click here to go check them out!


Have a blessed day,

Repurpose your magnets!

The other day I was looking at our incredibly over crowded refrigerator. I realized that we had some of those "ugly" magnets up. You know the ones, they had a calendar that was useful....3 years ago! Or they're from a restaurant that closed after 6 months. Well, I decided that I would repurpose them so that they were pretty and useful! Here's the one that I chose for my project:

Since Little Girl is over a year now and she is no longer nursing, this magnet and it's information definitely isn't relevant anymore. So it's my first victim choice.

My first step was to select my paper and measure/trace around the outside. Remember that if you don't get it exactly right you can always shave off the extra around the outside using a hobby knife.

After you trace and cut, you can see if you have any of the extra that you need to trim off.

I used my hobby knife (laying on the mat) to trim off the little bit that I needed to and then glued my paper to the top of my magnet. You can either use glue or Mod Podge.

At this point, you get to embellish. Yay!! My paper had this perfect border that created a fantastic place which just cried for a word!

So I measured my space to know exactly how big my word could be and then I brought out the big boys for reinforcement!

Ta-da! I chose what color paper I wanted and what design for my amazing Cricut to cut out. After I cut out my inspirational word, I added it to my magnet but gluing it down as well.

Then, you Mod Podge it to seal it all together...

After that layer dries, Mod Podge it again!

When it dries, you have a finished magnet. Here are two final shots of my finished project:

It really turned out great! I have several other magnets to create as well in the next week or so. I hope some of you can repurpose some of your own magnets in the future! Please link them up in the comments. I'd love to see what you do too!

I'll be linking up to a bunch of parties. So I'll be adding the links over the next few days! Be on the watch for some great ideas!

Have a blessed day,

Fleece Tie Blanket Tutorial

You know how your little one loves a certain character?

And you, being a loving parent, would like them to be able to cuddle with a soft version of their fav?

But when you go to the store... the snuggle-y warm blanket is $30?

 So, what do you do?

You make it!

My little guy LOVES Lightening McQueen... or more specifically Mater :)

So, I watched the ads at JoAnn's and found this:

Perfect, right?

To make this easy, no-sew tie blanket, lay your pieces together with WRONG sides together.

You may need to prep your fabric first by cutting off the white edges with the licensing information

**Don't forget to prewash your fabric!**

Once you have your pieces prepped and lined up, measure on each side how long you want your strips to be. I typically make mine about 5- 6". On the corners, measure in your chosen length and cut a square on each corner.

Then (take your time and don't rush) cut each side into strips. Make sure that you keep them all about the same length and about 1/2" to 3/4" wide. The wider or shorter they are, the harder they will be to tie.

Keep cutting... and cutting.... AND cutting until you have all the sides done.

There are several ways to tie. This is the way that I have found that causes the LEAST amount of bunching. This is as step-by-step as I could get it, but pretty please let me know if you have questions!

First, pick your strip that you are going to tie. Make sure you have 1 from the front piece and 1 from the back piece of fabric.

Taking both pieces together, twist them around to create a loop.

**You can use your finger to help keep the loop.

Bring the two pieces up under, around, and put them through the hole.

**Think back to when you learned to tie your shoes... the bunny hops around the tree, and jumps into the hole. In this case, he goes around the tree, into a hidden hole, and comes up through the front to surprise you :)

Once you have it, the knot should look like the one above. I believe this is called a square knot.

Here's a close up of a section of my blanket just to show you how it will look.

Keep going until you have all of your strips tied together. If you have any bunching, just gently pull/stretch the sides of the blanket. You'll hear a little bit of popping (that will make you think 'Oh no!') but I promise that (unless you are green and go by Hulk) you won't rip it!

There you have it! A wonderful blanket for your little one! If my little one had been a bit bigger, I probably would have taken him to the store with me and let him pick his fabric. This was especially great for my guy since his little sister has been getting everything lately. So, he has a piece of loving all his own :)

I hope this helps! I will have another tutorial coming soon about a bea.U.tiful pin that you can make... lets just say that the image is dancing in my head!!!

Remember this?

I started this skirt weeks ago and promised a tutorial about it :

Well, then life got in the way! I wanted to walk you through how I made this skirt though. It all started with a pillowcase. I was at a thrift store and found several really cute 70's looking pillowcase that I thought would look adorable as either a skirt or a pillowcase dress for my little pea pumpkin.

I started off by trying to make this pillowcase into a skirt, so I measured to see how long I was going to want it (utilizing the already finished seam!!) and then added 2" for a casing at the top. After wards, I cut off the extra from the top and tried it on:

I am SOOOOOO not showing you a picture of me trying it on, as it was skin tight and somewhat see-thru! Anyways, my next step was to lay it out on top of  fabric and use it as a pattern. I added a little bit to each side ( 4" to the left and to the right, plus 2" to the bottom to allow for hemming)

I also did a second layer for this second skirt so I could have a contrasting underlining. I also made sure to utilize the finished edges on this fabric too since I was repurposing an old sheet.

Next I started by sewing together the sides on each of the layers. Make sure to pin the right sides together! After both sides are sewn together, you can either clip close to the seam with pinking shears or use another type of finishing strategy that you may know.

Next, I pinked the bottom edges of my skirt before hemming them. If you are re purposing material that is already hemmed, you shouldn't have to hem unless the hemmed area was unusable.

Make sure to pin your casing down evenly all the way around the bottom of your skirt for your hem. I made my hems between 1/4" to 1/2"

** skip if you are doing just one layer!!**

After each of your layers has it's waist band sewn, then you need to put the layer you want on the OUTSIDE on the INSIDE of the layer that you want on the INSIDE. Make sure that they are both inside out. Pin them together and sew the two layers together.

** Come back at this point if you are using one layer

Next you are going to do your waistband casing. Make sure to pin your casing down evenly all the way around the top of your waist band. Keep in mind the width of your elastic. My elastic for each skirt was 7/8" so I did a casing of 1.5" on each of the waist bands.

 You need to sew all the way around leaving about 2" open so that you can feed the elastic in and all the way around. Once you have the elastic all the way around, overlap the two end pieces and sew them together. Then, sew close the remaining 2" you left open.

Congrats: You have an adorable new skirt!

** As soon as I have my elastic threaded I will show you a picture of my finished skirt! Post up pictures of your finished ones. I'd love to see your wonderful work!

My very first tutorial!!

*drum roll please* Here it is, this is my very first tutorial!! The other day I got an urge to be organized this year....I absolutely loooove getting organized! This urge sent me to Target to get a small planner in order to keep up with my kiddos doctors appointments along with all the other very important dates for this year. However, when I got to the store they were incredibly picked over and the planners that they had left weren't very pretty. Alas, it didn't stop me!! I found the type of planner I wanted (a simple one with just the months) and headed home.

Now, to make it not just functional but pretty too!! Here's what you'll need:

Your (not-so-pretty) planner

Glue

Scissors

Scrapbooking paper

Ribbon, bows, pictures, etc.

This is my planner. It was rather plain looking with just the 4 pictures... I'm guessing they were supposed to be one picture for each season. Choose your scrapbooking paper that you want. I fiddled around with several sheets before I picked the one I wanted.

Once you picked your paper, turn it over so that the blank sheet (or opposite side if it's double sided) is facing you. Position your planner so that the paper touches the bottom and side of the front cover. After you have it all lined up, you need to trace around the cover. Cut it out after you finish tracing.

Line up your paper with the cover. You might have some extra paper around the edge. I dealt with that after I glued the paper to the cover. So, glue the paper down first. Then open it up and use either scissors or a craft knife to cut away the extra.

After you have your paper glued down and fitted you can start adding your embellishments. I kept mine somewhat simple. I added a pink ribbon down the side to accentuate the pink flowers on my paper. Then I took chipboard numbers and glued them to the top of the ribbon. Isn't it much better than how it started out? I'm pretty proud!

 

Show me yours in a comment or leave some love :) My project is also listed over at My Frugal Family! If you're looking for some great crafts but don't have a ton of dinero to spend-- go check it out!!