The Creative Vault

Adelyn's Dress

2012-02-20T12:10:00.000-06:00

Maggie's speech therapist is having her first little baby. We are so excited for her! Her therapist is just the sweetest and has helped Maggie progress in her speech so much. We wanted to do something special for her and her baby girl, Adelyn (Add-uh-Lynn) . Isn't that such a beautiful name!?!

I made her this little peasant style dress from a nice thick white cotton. It is seriously one of my favorite dresses that I've made. I only wish my pictures could show you it's full sweetness.

The neck and arms have elastic. I created a matching hair bow from the scraps of fabric and ric rac.

This is what makes it my favorite though - the light teal ric rack and the pink hand embroidered name. I haven't done any embroidery in a LONG time. It was really so easy. I don't know what has been holding me back. I simply wrote her name in pencil and traced the marks with my needle and thread.

I think what makes this my favorite though was that I took the time to create French seams. It makes for such a beautiful inside and steps up the quality of the dress by about a million notches. I was so glad I did this step it made it feel more boutique as opposed to just handmade.

As cute as this little dress is, I know it is nothing in comparison to how cute that sweet baby will be!

Anyone ever used French seams? Interested in learning how? Just speak up and I'd be happy to create a tutorial. Well, I'm off to sew some more!

{Tutorial} Personalized Christmas Card Bookmarks

2012-02-16T15:48:00.001-06:00

In January I was visiting over at So You Think You're Crafty, a super fun craft competition blog. They are in the middle of a season so go on over an follow along. I'm obsessed with competition so you know I love it. Missy was kind enough to feature this tutorial - so here it is if you missed it. Enjoy!

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If you know me at all you know that I absolutely LOVE to re-purpose things. There is something so satisfying about turning something old into something new. Nearly everything I do is re-purposed in some way. It's important to me to use what I have and not be wasteful. For tips and rules on salvaging items you can read my post HERE.

Today I wanted to show you a personalized gift that you can make using leftover Christmas cards. I love getting Christmas cards but I hate throwing them away come January. I really have no need to keep them, so I often like to turn them into a cute bookmark to give back to my friend. It's a simple little thing you can give as a little birthday gift or even a "thanks for being my friend" token. The best part is you know they like the picture. Heck, they're the ones that picked it out!

There are so many possibilities. You can even use your own leftover cards or pictures to make gifts for the grandparents or rip through your old magazines. I mean what tween doesn't want to be staring at Justin Bieber while reading that book for English class? And yes, I'll admit the super creepy bookmark of Edward Cullen is mine. What can I say? I just can't read Twilight without it.

But I digress... let's get back to the Christmas cards. These not only are great because they are personalized but they are durable, and cute. I also like that they are large in size so you're not losing it, but not so thick that you warp your book

Want to make your own????

Supplies:

Card or other picture
Card stock paper
Fabric scraps
Ribbon scraps
Scissors
Glue Stick
Sewing machine
Lamination machine OR clear contact paper OR clear packing tape

Step 1: Cut out picture from card and attach to card stock with glue stick. Cut the entire piece to be about the size that you want your bookmark to be.

Step 2: Laminate entire bookmark.**

I have my own lamination machine. It was very inexpensive {around $25 from Sam's Club} and I use it for everything. If you don't have a lamination machine and if you don't know a teacher who can hook you up, you can go to a copy store or parent teacher store. You can also buy laminating pouches that don't require heat. Or you can just cover the front of your picture with clear packing tape.

**This step can be skipped but I find that protecting the picture keeps smudges off the photo as well as makes it water resistant.

Step 3: Trim off extra lamination.

Step 4: Lightly use glue stick to adhere scraps of fabric around the picture on the front of the bookmark. You just want a small amount of glue to hold the fabric in place long enough to keep it in place for the next step.

Step 5: Using your sewing machine, sew around the photo to secure the fabric to the bookmark.

Step 6: Trim up the fabric creating about a 1/4 inch boarder.

Step7: Attach ribbon to the back of bookmark.

Step 8: Cover the back of bookmark with another piece of fabric.

Step 9: Sew around the entire outer edge
.

Ta-da!

If you put two pictures together you can use ribbon to separate each picture, like I did in the photo below.

This is a super versatile project and you can really get creative and make this your own. So grab those cards and fabric scraps and get creative!

Real Valentines Day

2012-02-15T13:34:00.000-06:00

I know when I posted my Valentines that I said I would post the great Valentines I received from The Stationary Place Valentine Swap yesterday but I was delusional. I watched 11 kids yesterday. When in the world did I think I would have time to blog? Oh well. Today is REAL Valentines Day.

That's right, while the world is fighting the crowds and overpaying for tokens of love we are treating it just like every other day because for the Cutts family Valentines Day isn't until the 15th. After a Valentines day several years ago where we went to 4 sold out movie theaters, watched a mother of two get arrested after an altercation with a man over the parking spot we just left at our favorite bakery and having to settle for a romantic dinner of fast food we decided it just wasn't worth the hassle and permanently changed the holiday. Best decision ever.

So without further ado I'd like to show off the fun Valentines I got from my new pals.

First up is the coolest piece of mail I've ever received from

Jody @ The Hobby Room

I had to snag this photo from her site because we were so excited about our Valentine that the kids and I ripped it apart and devoured the candy before I could snap a picture. It came just like this with postage stamped on the front. It provided us with an evening of fun, opening up each little pockets and giggling as we scarfed it all down. Let's just say watching a baby eat Pop Rocks is hilarious.

Click on the picture or click HERE for a tutorial on how to make this cool Valentine.

I can see myself sending something like this to my nieces and nephews for their birthday.

The next Valentine I received was from

Beth @ Art and Elephants

Love the graphic print! It's so simple and beautiful. I also adored the little touches with the Washi tape and the Van Gogh quote. I had never heard it before and it is so beautiful!

This next one is from

Michaela

Can we just say CUTE!!! Valentines day isn't Valentines day without red, pink and hearts and Michaela nailed it. I love that she used the little hearts as the steam from the cup. She sure knows how to serve up a hot cup of LOVE! ; )

Last but not least

Hannah @ Hannah Made

Let's just discuss this bunting for a minute shall we... I love it! I love bunting but never have I thought to make tiny paper bunting and put it on a card. So clever! The time and patience it must have taken to make tiny flags and and get that bakers twine pulled so perfectly tight. It has me seeing hearts!

THANKS SO MUCH GIRLS!

You're all so creative and talented and totally made my day when I received these. Your kind words and messages were so sweet. Hope you had a special day filled with love, love, and chocolate.

Happy Real Valentines Day!!!

Will You Be Mine??

2012-02-13T14:29:00.000-06:00

I'm kind of a weird crafter. I almost never do holiday crafts. I don't know why. I think the holidays just sneak up on me and I never get around to it. And to be honest I kind of get sick of seeing a million holiday themed crafts after a while. This year though my friend Elizabeth posted about a Valentine Swap she was doing at The Stationary Place. I saw this as a fun way to make a fun Valentine craft as well as meet some new people. It was a blast! I'm so glad I participated!

Tomorrow I want to show you the adorable and fun cards I received from my new pen pals. I have yet to take pictures of their creations, but I did want to show you what I came up with before the holiday slipped by me.

I kept going over what I should make in my mind but it wasn't until the kids and I were making shrinky dinks one night did I settle on a plan. We used an old lunch to-go box container and permanent markers to make the shrinky dinks (tutorial to come) and I attached each heart to a bit of chain. I got the chain from a big pack of key chains they had at the Dollar Tree.

I hot glued the chain to the teal paper and then glued jumbo red rick rack over top of that. The little love thing in the corner is a piece of scrapbook paper that I painted a swipe of teal paint on. Once the paint dried I used a stamp to stamp the LOVE. I then used my sewing machine to zig zag stich it onto the card. Simple but fun.

On the inside I included a little surprise. A tiny little bookmark. I can do a tutorial for this one too but basically I just hand stitched around a little piece of teal wool felt. I hot glued it to a paper clip and then glued another plain heart to cover the back. I attached the bookmark to the card by making a tiny slit in the paper so that's why you can't see the other loop of the paper clip.

Confession: I had to make one for me too. To put in my Hunger Games book. Because I {heart}it so much. Can I get a squeal for the upcoming movie release? Eeeeeekkkk!! I can't wait!!

One of my darling children {read that with sarcastic disgruntled mom voice} loved the heart charms so much they took off with one of them and I have yet to have found it. Grrrr... so I'm sad to say not all four of my cards were the same. Sorry to whomever ends up with the random card but lace, felt and a metal brad are nice too right??

Finished off in a nice little envelope sealed with some heart tape.

Hope all my readers have a Happy Valentines Day tomorrow!

I sure do love ya'!!!

Neon! It's back baby!

2012-02-02T21:26:00.000-06:00

Remember the Mod Mod Dress I made Maggie this summer?

She's almost too big for it now but we got at least one more wear out of it this Sunday.

Mags picked out her own outfit the night before and was really excited about it the next day. She may be just 3 but that girl has style! When she paired that bright yellow and teal vintage fabric with a pair of thick hot pink tights I was like, "Yeah baby!"

The bold colors were a breath of fresh air. So here's what you can expect from me this year BOLD COLORS!!!! Okay you'll see some not so bold colors too from time to time but little Mags has inspired me to "Go Bold or Go Home!".

Cinnamon Rolls in the Waffle Maker

2012-02-01T21:01:00.000-06:00

My husband turned 31 this week. Happy Birthday John! For one of his gifts I got him a waffle iron. Like the nice kind. That flips. And is 1 1/2 inches thick. He was so happy.

I never make breakfast but he loves it. I've never really cared for it. So it surprised me that I am more obsessed with this thing than he is and he's the waffle lover.

I've been throwing everything I can think of into the thing. My favorite so far??

Cinnamon Rolls!!!

Best cinnamon rolls of my life. Perfectly and evenly cooked in minutes. They still pull apart and the waffle tops keep that gooey frosting on so well.

I posted these pics on Facebook and had lots of requests for directions so here's all you need to know.

Step 1: Open up a can of cinnamon rolls. I used Pillsbury Cinnabon rolls.
Step 2: Preheat iron and spray with pan spray if necessary.
Step 3: Place a roll in each section.
Step 4: Cook like you would a waffle. I cook mine on medium heat and then watch the done light to come on. Im guessing each machine is different.
Step 5: Top with frosting and try not to eat the whole batch by yourself.

So easy right?!?

Okay, I won't keep you any longer. I know you're dying to run to the kitchen to make some...

Christmas Card Bookmark Tutorial at SYTYC

2012-01-13T08:32:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone!!!

I'm guest blogging today over at So You Think You're Crafty?

I'm a huge fan of this competition blog and am so excited to be sharing with them my

Christmas Card Bookmark Tutorial.

So pop on over and check it out!!

The Doggie Princess

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-06:00

"Yay! Doggie Princess!"

That's what she shouted when she opened this gift Christmas morning. Ummm... sure... whatever you say, Doggie Princess it is then!

I had a pretty clear idea of what t-shirts I wanted to make for Jackson for Christmas {you can see the Batman shirt HERE} but I was stumped with Mags. So I just simply asked her. We looked at all sorts of images online and she kept saying she wanted the doggie. Using my Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot program I made a freezer paper stencil and painted a Dachshund onto a pink shirt I got at Hobby Lobby for $3. I felt like it was just too plain so I had sewed four plastic pearls to her neck to give her a nice blinggy collar.

She was so excited about it and has been so happy to wear it. Mission accomplished.

Da na na na na na na na BATMAN!!!

2012-01-05T17:13:00.000-06:00

Did you sing the title of this post in your mind {or even better, out loud}?? I sure did!

For Christmas I made Jackson this cool little boys shirt. I think my husband felt like it was the first time I used my craft talents for good {you know, manly stuff} instead of for evil {like spending all our money at JoAnn's}.

I got the inspiration for this shirt from a similar shirt that I found on Pinterest. The link and several Google searches took me nowhere so I had to wing it. I played around in Microsoft Paint to create the image and then I used my Sure Cuts A Lot program and Cricut to cut out a freezer paper stencil. I painted the masks using a metallic gold craft paint. I got the black shirt from Hobby Lobby for $3.

Jackson has no idea who Batman is but he likes the shirt. I think he gets the vibe that in the future he and dad will be spending many a Saturday morning bonding over these two dudes.

Ballerina Cupcakes

2011-12-29T22:48:00.000-06:00

Maggie finished up her first semester in ballet. There is nothing cuter than a bunch of little 3 year olds dancing their hearts out. At the end of the semester they had a small program and a little party afterwards. I knew right away what I wanted to bring.

Ballerina Cupcakes!

I wanted them to be special but I also wanted them to be simple. I used a box of strawberry cake mix and a jar and a half of strawberry frosting. Not only were the strawberry cupcakes pink but Southerners love strawberry cupcakes so a win all around. The easiest way to frost a cupcake is to place it in a piping bag and swirl it up on top. I then tossed on a few valentines sprinkles and there's your cupcake!

For the topper I used the ballerina dress from the Cricut cartridge Paper Doll Dress Up. I cut out two dresses for each cupcake. I taped a mini bamboo skewer to one dress to secure it and then using a glue stick, I sandwiched the skewer with another dress. Make sense? Dress, skewer, dress.

This was one happy ballerina!

*** If you are interested in these toppers but are unable to make your own, feel free to send me an e-mail at thecreativevault(at)hotmail(dot)com to inquire about purchasing.

Cran-Apple Spinach Salad

2011-12-29T00:14:00.000-06:00

I want you to taste this salad. It's so yummy. I've had something similar to this before and I did my best to recreate it and it was a success. The rich dressing, crunchy spiced nuts, salty feta and sweet apples and cranberries combine to create a delicious flavorful salad. Perfect for any occasion.

Ingredients:

1 bag spinach
1 cup Craisins
1-2 Galla Apples, diced
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/2 cup cinnamon and sugar spiced pecans
1/3 bottle Briannas Poppy Seed dressing

Directions:

Place spinach, Craisins, and apple in bowl
Toss with salad dressing.
Top with feta cheese and pecans.
Serve right away.

Play Spools

2011-12-26T21:43:00.002-06:00

We had a great Christmas. I hope you did too. So many highlights and so much fun. The kids were really into it this year {last year I had to bribe Mags with candy just to open presents}. And my husband treated me like a princess, just like he always does. You know how on Modern Family Claire is a horrible gift giver to her husband and he's the best ever? Yeah, that's us. I think I made up for it this year though with electronics and sports gear.

I made several gifts for the kids and I'll gradually get to posting what I've made. Today I'll show you the simplest gift I made.

Play Spools

Maggie is obsessed with my craft supplies. My craft room is a disaster because really what 3 year old can resist bin after bin filled with ribbon and jars of buttons just waiting to be tossed in the rain to rain down on their head? One of her favorites is to take my spools of thread, hold onto the string and drag the spools around the house. It makes me nuts. She needs some craft supplies of her own.

I like to reuse everything so I've been saving empty spools of thread. I hot glued different kinds of yarn around each one and left about a foot of yard free at the end that way she can wrap it herself or pretend to sew. It just took a few minutes to make each spool.

When she opened it she shouted "YES!" then promptly ran upstairs to place the spools onto my sewing machine and pretend to sew. We eventually had to bring her back down so the family could finish opening presents! I think it was a hit.

Take a look around the craft bins and see if there is some re-purposing you can do too!

Vintage Handmade Stocking and A Great Big Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T23:26:00.001-06:00

Well, the stockings are all hung {or laid nicely on the couch} with care in the hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there! I surely can't sleep knowing that Christmas is tomorrow so I wanted to show you the beautifully, hand stitched stocking my Grandma Rosie {aka Nonie} made me when I was born. Each member of my family has one with a different scene and each is just as elaborate and gorgeous as the last. I hate to call it vintage because it's exactly as old as me but let's face it - it's getting there.

I've had a difficult time making stockings for my own family. Nothing I can do will ever match what Nonie did. What a wonderful, talented woman! I miss you Nonie!

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I hope each of you have a wonderful Holiday Season filled with joy, happiness, family, creativity and lots and lots of love!

Merry Christmas from The Cutts Family!

And if you're wondering... yes... this is the best family photo we got this year.

Sigh...

I long for the day when we have beautiful family photo but for now I'm just happy with what I've got.

Crazy kids, a great husband and lots and lots of love.

Seasons Greetings to All!!!

Ruffled Muslin Trees {Tutorial}

2011-12-20T15:11:00.001-06:00

Y'all, I am a mess. I've had so many projects I've been working on for Christmas gifts, that hardly any of them are getting done. I'm just all over the place with no focus. I guess most of them will be Happy New Years presents. You're probably thinking, "Then why are you blogging if you have so much to do?" The truth is, I have no idea. But since I did get one gift done I thought I would share it, maybe it will help motivate me to finish the bajillion others. Oh yeah, and don't worry I'm still working on a tutorial for the Mr. & Mrs. Place Settings. I just wanted to get this out before Christmas was over.

Introducing Ruffled Muslin Trees

Super simple. Super sweet.

And the best part is it can go with any decor theme.

I made these as a thank you gift for Maggie's therapists {occupational and speech}. They spend so much time with her each week, making her feel so special, I didn't want them to go unrecognized. I figured they could keep them on their desk or take them home. I would have loved to get them a nice big gift card or something but it just wasn't in the budget. So it was off to the craft room.

Want to make your own? It's so easy, I promise. Okay, here's how:

Supplies:
- Card stock paper {you can use a Styrofoam cone too but they can be expensive}
- Tape
- Muslin (about 1/8 - 1/4 yard) per tree {I just used scraps}
- scissors
- hot glue
- twine
- jingle bells

Directions:

Step 1: Make a cone from the paper. I have no special tricks, just twist the paper around until it forms a come that you like the shape of. Tape it to secure it in place.

Step 2: Prepare your fabric. Tear your fabric into strips that about about 1 inch wide. Tearing gives it a nice frayed edge and a shabby chic look. To tear your fabric cut a small slit on the edge and then just rip. {no pic sorry}

Step 3: Hot glue fabric to cone starting from the bottom and gradually spiraling all the way up, gathering and bunching the fabric as you go. When you come to the end of a strip just add another one. No need to do anything fancy.

Work with about an inch at a time. This way your glue stays nice and hot and secure.

Step 4: Once you've added all the ruffle, cut off the tip of the tree to make a tiny flat top.

Step 5: Take a piece of twine {about 8-10 inches long) and tie a jingle bell to each end.

Step 6: Take a long length of twine and wrap it around your fingers. The length of twine will depend on how many loops you want your bow to have.

Step 7: Take the twine off your fingers and hold it in the middle. Take the twine with the jingle bells on it and tie it in a knot around the looped twine. This will secure it in place.

Step 8: Place a large blob of glue on the top and attach the bow.

Ta-da!

Told you it was simple. The whole thing took me lass than two Modern Family episodes to complete so (a half hour or so). A great last minute gift or decor idea. The best part is its such a lovely color that it can stay up past Christmas as part of winter decor and not just for Christmas. A nice gift for any denomination.

Well, I'm off to finish the rest of my projects, since I'm guessing my family would like to have Christmas presents and all.

Good luck to you with all you have going on as well!

Mr. & Mrs. Place Settings

2011-12-11T15:32:00.001-06:00

So I mentioned a few days ago that we went to a wonderful wedding reception for a beautiful couple. Rebecca is such a cool girl and has such a fun personality. I follow her every drool worthy pin on Pinterest with anticipation. In fact my fist thought when I heard she was engaged was, "Oh all of her pins are going to come to life!!!!"

I really wanted to be able to do something for her from her Wish List on Pinterest and was in luck when I noticed THIS PIN where they painted silverware. I also noticed on there that she had lots of pins in this gorgeous blue {I never know what to call it. Teal? Turquoise? Robins Egg? I'm only slightly better than boys when it comes to identifying colors.} I knew I was going to paint her some silverware and when I got to the store the rest of the project just came to me.

My friend Amy went in on the project with me and helped talk me through it.

We ended up with a place setting for two.

{Pay no attention to the extreme patina that my deck table has. Time for a new paint job.}

Anyone know what side the fork goes on? I can never remember so I tried both.

Keep an eye out for a tutorial on how I did it all later this week.

Until then, I'll just give you the basics - the mats are bamboo mats spray painted in white. I then used a stencil I made with my Cricut and dry brushed the blue to give it a worn look. I did the same with the napkins. As for the utensils I taped each of them off, sprayed them with primer and then dipped them in paint.

I really liked how they turned out {my ipod photos don't do it justice} and I hope the happy couple like it too. Thanks Rebecca for inspiring me with all of your gorgeous pins!

May All Your Wildest Pins Come True!

And if you missed it HERE is the post about the card I made from their wedding announcement.

Have a Creative Day!!

- Alicia

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Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String...

2011-12-07T11:52:00.001-06:00

I'm so happy today!!! Through some generous trades with some very amazing people I now have a computer again!! I can't even begin to tell you how sad it's been for me not to blog. It's such a great hobby and release. So look forward to lots of random posts coming soon.

This past weekend we were able to attend another wedding reception for a wonderful couple, Brian and Rebecca. I made them a gift that was different from what I've been giving and I really loved it. I'll show it to you soon but today I wanted to show you the card I made.

I really love reusing materials so for weddings I like to cut up the bride and grooms announcement to make their card. After all, I don't need it anymore and they picked it out so they must really love it. Sometimes I'll use their engagement picture, or a monogram but for this one I used this awesome picture.

Rebecca has fantastic style and this darling jar was at the bottom of the announcement. I simply cropped out the jar and sewed it to the cream colored paper. I used a stamp to add the word LOVE. I then glued that portion to a piece of brown card stock that matched the brown paper wrappings. I wrote the message on the back of the card/tag, punched a hole in the corner and tied it to the package.

The whole thing took about 5 minutes to make and the bride loved it.

Can you imagine if everyone re-purposed your announcement as a card?? I would love to see all the different things that people would do with it!

Breaking Dawn Party

2011-11-25T02:13:00.001-06:00

I do not apologize for what you are about to see. Why? Because this was the BEST. NIGHT. EVER. I know there is some Twi-hate in the world but I will have none of it here. So come visit our Breaking Dawn Pre-Party and enjoy the festivities.

This was our pre-party for the midnight showing of the latest Twilight movie. A large group of us had been going to midnight showings all along but I really felt like this year we needed a little more. So with the generosity of my friend Michelle who volunteered her house along with many other contributers we partied.

Edward here to welcome you to the festivities.

I used my Halloween wreath, changed out the orange ribbon for some red and attached some chess pieces (to represent the book cover). Behind the wreath I taped a picture of Edward. Because the party was at night and the porch was dark, his creeptastic stare freaked eveyone out as they approached the door. Bonus!

My friend, Amy from Indulge With Me executed my idea for Vampire Cupcakes perfectly. White cake and white frosting with shimmery sprinkles. They had to sparkle! Amy found the cupcake wrappers at Hobby Lobby. Aren't they perfect?

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that they were filled with blood!!?!?!!! Who-wah-ha-ha!!

Okay so maybe not blood, maybe it was delicious raspberry filling. You can get the recipes for the cupcakes HERE.

I know what you're thinking - How could we possibly forget Team Jacob? Of course we didn't!

We had a whole plate of Werewolf Treats.

Way to save Bella once again! Good doggie! Good boy!

I used this ginger snap recipe (minus the pepper) and they turned out delicious. People who weren't normally fans of ginger snaps loved them. I'll definetly make this recipe again. Amy found the cookie cutter at Hobby Lobby. It wasn't as easy to cut out the ginger snaps with the cutter as I would have liked but we made it work. I baked a whole flat sheet of the dough. While it was still hot, I cut out the bones and then removed the excess cookie bits. I then put the bones back in the oven for a few more minutes to firm them up a little more.

Now, now, calm down. We didn't forget the humans either.

Introducing Porta"Bella" Mushroom Ravioli.

I made the raviolis from scratch and by scratch I mean, I rolled them out and filled them, so for reals scratch. I then topped them with a portabella, spinach and garlic alfredo sauce. Recipes and tutorials to come.

Michelle wowed us with the coolest drinks ever! She printed out these fun wrappers she found and placed them on water bottles and hawaiian punch.

I made sure to drink my blood type, O negative. It is the tastiest afterall.

There was lots more food. Tons actually but I failed to get pictures of it all.

I really should have taken more pictures of the decorations too. Michelle did such a great job! She represented all 4 books perfectly by using the items from their covers placed around her house. Here is her sons chess set. He's quite the entrepreneur and charged her $1 to spray paint the pieces red! Ha ha! She also had red ribbon draped, flowers, and red apples along with framed quotes from the movie and the books. She also made yarn balls {you can see them in the background of the first cupcake pic} and repurposed some tissue paper hanging decorations {also in first pic} by spray painting them black, to hang from the ceiling.

Being the over achiever that I am I also brought my wedding dress to display. Afterall, Breaking Dawn does feature the wedding of the century!

What's that you say? Is that for reals a picture of Bella?

Uhhh.... yeah.... I totally went there. Bella looks pleased though don't you think? Well, I know her expression never changes so you'll just have to take my word for it. Very happy.

And I can't forget to mention this. Not only did I pull my wedding dress out for the first time in almost 7 years but I also used the leftover red ribbon from our wedding. Look very carefully... notice the brand of the ribbon? Cooincidence? I think not. I always knew that John and I's love was perfect and timeless.

Here's all my favorite girls at 2:30 am {about 10 or so didn't make it to the movie part}. We all had a blast and can't wait for Breaking Dawn Pre-Party Part 2 and... Titanic Pre-Party and... Hunger Games Pre-Party and...

What can I say? We like to party!

Oh yeah, and if you missed it, here's my mini spoiler-free review and my favorite quote to print out.

The Secret to a Juicy Turkey

2011-11-23T19:46:00.001-06:00

Anyone cooking a bird tomorrow?? I have a tip for you on making a delicious, juicy turkey -LEAVE IT IN THE PAN FOR 1/2 AN HOUR AFTER ROASTING. You may be wondering why? When you pull your turkey out of the pan right away and carve it you'll likely have a dry turkey. All the juices have cooked out. If you leave your turkey to sit in the pan for a bit the juices will start to work their way back into the bird giving you a juicer piece of meat. You can still use some of that juice to make gravy with while it sits. I do this with all types of birds I cook though smaller birds like chicken require less time. Try it. It works!Hope all of you Americans have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Hair Bow Holder

2011-11-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

Here is a fun little hair bow holderI made for Maggie a little while ago. If anyone is interested in a full tutorial speak up - I'd be happy to create one for you. This is such a simple project and who doesn't love a little organization in their life?

The holder can fold up to make a little carrying case. Or it can hang on the wall open and store bows where you can see them. Either way - Hair Bow WIN. We keep ours next to the changing table so when we take the bows out when she gets ready for bed the holder is right there.

I basically just created a long double sided piece of fabric. Enclosed in the seams were two pieces of ribbon one to attach the bows to and one for the handle. I sewed down the middle to secure the ribbon a little better. When all was said and done I added a button and button hole. Viola!

This would be a great gift especially if you included a few bows with it too. I also think that this would be great for those little girls that dance or cheer since they always seem to have a million bows. Heck, what little girl doesn't!?!

Get those bows out of the drawer and make yourself a hair bow holder today!

Create - Ispirational Video

2011-11-21T00:45:00.000-06:00

I recently was asked to speak at at Young Women leader training meeting. The main topic I was asked to speak on was how creative doesn't just mean crafty. It was a wonderful opportunity for me to think more about what creativity means.

In my preparation I came across an inspiring video with clips from one of my favorite talks of all time, "Happiness, Your Herritage" by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. This talk touches on so many points that are inspiring and encouraging to all women. It should be no surprise though that what touched me the most was the part of his talk about creativity. This short youtube clip has been done in such a beautiful way. I watch it over and over again and just feel a surge of empowerment everytime I do. It makes me want to drop everything and create something of "substance or beauty".

I hope that this video and my blog can insipre you to create something that brings you joy. There is no better feelingthan creating "something that did not exist before". So like he says, "start small" and "Don't let the voice of critics paralyze you", especially if that critic is you.

Create something today. Because you're amazing and the world is waiting.

Two Words: Breaking Dawn {No spoilers, don't worry}

2011-11-18T02:55:00.001-06:00

Yes, It's 3am. Yes, I'm actually blogging. Yes, I just had a huge Twilight party with my friends. Yes, I stayed up late to watch Breaking Dawn. Yes, I am fully aware that I am a complete nerd.

Y'all - I just had the best night. I cannot wait to show you the pre-party we planned it was so great.

Breaking Dawn was just SO GOOD! I loved it! I felt like it stayed true enough to the book and in some ways was even better. The CGI/make-up or whatever they did to Bella was unlike anything I have ever seen. Incredible!

I won't spill everything I'll let you watch the movie for yourself but I will leave you with my new favorite quote. This is getting embroidered onto something the first chance I get! I know... I'm a dork but I'm a sucker for a good romance especially when Edward Cullen is involved!!! And yes, I totally hopped on and made a little quote picture thing as soon as I possibly could. What can I say?? I'm in love!

{Feel free to print this quote if you would like. If you're having trouble clicking and saving it,

let me know and I can make an easier to print version for you.}

Sigh....

Oh yeah, and don't forget to stay through the credits!! You won't want to miss anything!

Did you watch the movie yet??

What did you think????

Fall Fabric Hoops

2011-11-14T23:00:00.000-06:00

Elizabeth finally called in a missing persons report on me. I can NOT believe I haven't blogged in a month! There was so much Halloween insanity on the Internet I'm sure y'all survived without me. But I'm back! Well, kind of. You see my computer is broken. Like, broken broken and I've had to share the lap top with my husband. Between the Phd and Fantasy Football I don't get to use it much and when it's available I just want to nap. I'm sure you'll forgive me.

I'll be doing lots of random catching up for a little while - just because the computer is broken doesn't mean I haven't been crafting away!

Today I want to show you my super simple fall decor. The whole project took about 20 minutes to do. It will take you 5 if you skip the applique.

Fall Fabric Hoops

I took a bunch of wooden embroidery hoops that my mom gave me and filled them with different fabrics from my scrap bins. The whole project was free. Yay.

The leaf is cut from a rust colored piece of wool felt. I used the leaf pattern on the Disney character Cricut cartridge as a template.

The fall is an applique cut using the Plaintain School Book font cartridge. I know that my machine can cut fabric but I am in the habbit of cutting out the letter/shape tracing it onto the Heat and Bond and then cutting it out by hand bedore I iron it on.

Here is a crummy picture of how I arranged them on my wall. Nothing fancy, just simple hoops to remind me it's fall.

Here's how to make your own:

Step 1: Pick out your fabrics and your hoops. I used quilters cotton, burlap and wool felt.

Step 2: Place the fabric in hoop. For a permanent fix line the outside of the inner circle with a thin layer of glue. I may have other plans for these hoops after fall is over so I did not add glue.

Step 3: Trim off excess. And you're done. Told you it was simple.

*If you plan of adding applique iron-ons, add the letter to the fabric first then place fabric in hoop.

Paper Bag Cowboy Costumes

2011-10-05T22:15:00.001-05:00

If you're looking for Halloween costume ideas and you're as cheap and lazy as I am then here is the costume for you!

Introducing -

Paper Bag Cowboy Costumes

Me and Johnny boy rockin' it pre-kids {I'm 6 mo. pregnant here}

Would you like to know how much these costumes cost?

$0 dollars

How long did it take me to make both costumes?

less than 30 minutes

I really feel like Halloween costumes should be free or almost free, repurposed from something else or they need to serve a year round purpose. I've never seen any point in expensive, elaborate costumes that you'll never touch again. That's what wedding dresses are for.

These paper bag costumes are something I've done several times and they always are a hit {I've probably done this costume 3 or 4 times}. People think they are hilarious and I've usually made them last minute. One time a little girl even came up to my husband and said, "Hi Woody. Hi other girl." Ha ha! They are super simple. These would also make for great play clothes for the kiddies anytime. This is also an easy way to make an Indian costume.

For the vest:

Lay paper bag flat and draw a design of a vest and cut it out. If you're making one for an adult use as much of the bag as you can.
Crumple up the vest and then uncrumple it and smooth it out. If you take the time {unlike us} to do this a few times you can really get it to look like leather.
Turn the paper bag inside out {so the store logo is on the inside} and decorate however you want. You can draw on detail, cow print, sheriff badges, etc.

For the chaps:

Cut out 2 pieces 1 for each chap.
Crumple up the chaps just like in #2 for the vest {above}.
Use scissors to cut fringe along the outside of each chap.
Punch holes in the top of the chaps and string yarn through the holes. Tie around waist.

For the belt buckle:

Cut out an oval from cardboard.
Cut out your initial from cardboard and attach to oval.
Cover the whole thing in tinfoil.
Attach to the yarn on the chaps with duct tape.

I've also made guns before by cutting out a gun shape from cardboard while leaving room for a barrel. For the barrel I use part of a toilet paper roll and attach it with tape. Then I covered the whole thing in tin foil. If I have time I'll also make a tiny cowboy hat from the scraps that I keep on my head with a yarn tie. I wish I had a picture to show you. Oh well.

So get creative and have fun! That's what Halloween is all about!

A Life Lesson from Monster Cupcakes

2011-10-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

Well, Halloween season is upon us and it's time to get Halloweeny. Probably the crafters best time of year. Halloween crafts are so fun that it's hard not to go overboard. One Halloween I learned a valuable lesson about going overboard that has changed me forever. {Okay, maybe that's a little dramatic, but I did learn something.}

Several years ago, before I had kids I signed up to bring cupcakes for our Church's Halloween carnival cake walk. I was so excited. I had seen these fabulous monster cupcakes online {probably from Martha} and I knew they would be perfect. They were funky/spooky/creepy/awesome and they were topped with tons of candy! The kids would like them. No - they would LOVE them. I was sure of it. How could they not?

I spent extra time trying to match every detail from my inspiration and ran to several stores trying to find the perfect green candy for the Quasimodo eye. It was all going to be worth it because the kids were going to love them.

I brought them to the carnival set them on the table with dozens of other treats {many of which were store bought - what were people thinking? BORING!} and went off to help with the carnival games. By the end of the night I visited the cake tables to help clean up and was devastated. Every single cake and treat was gone except for my cupcakes. Not ONE was touched! They were the only rejects left. I was shocked. I was devastated.

Fighting back tears, I offered the rejected little monsters to the missionaries who happened to walk by at that moment. They gladly took them but let's face it - 19 year old boys will eat anything. My husband had a theory and I think he was right. I split up the cupcakes on to smaller plates and there was my fatal flaw. The kids didn't care about getting 4 homemade monster cupcakes when they could have had a giant store bought cake. They didn't care about the time and love and thought I put into them. They just wanted cake and in as large of quantities as possible. They aren't greedy. No, they just like to eat themselves sick at Halloween and if a big box of sugar cookies will get them there well, that's what they want.

So the moral of the story for me is:

Don't waste your time or money, going all out on things like this.

Just buy that discounted box of cupcakes with the extra frosting, sprinkles and plastic spider rings and save yourself the trouble.

Because less stress and more sugar is what everyone wants anyway.

P.S. If you want to make the monster cupcakes you use large marshmallows, small marshmallows, melted chocolate for the center of the eyes and fruit by the foot for the Quasimodo eye. Good luck.

Personalized Nursery Frame

2011-10-01T21:30:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago I got a brand new nephew. He is the absolute cutest {as all my nieces and nephews are}. I want to kiss him and hold him all day. Since he lives on the other side of the country I'll just have to settle for making stuff for him.

His nursery is blue, brown and zoo animals so I decided to make a frame to go along with the decor.

The best part? It only cost a dollar.

{Shhh... don't tell Blake's mommy. She doesn't know yet that I'm a cheapskate.}

Want to make your own?

Here's what you'll need:

Wooden frame (Michael's $1)
Chipboard letters (got mine in a big pack from the dollar store a long time ago)
Brown paint ( craft paint it fine I just had some leftover house paint I used)
Blue paint
Candle
Glue
Paint brush
Sand paper (optional)

Step 1: Paint frame brown. Let dry.

Step 2: Glue chipboard letters to frame.

Step 3: Rub candle wax along edges of frame.

Step 4: Paint the entire frame blue. Let dry.

Step 5: Around the edges that you waxed you can scratch off the blue paint and the brown will show through. If you have a light sandpaper you can also sand off the top layer of paint. The brown will now show through.

Step 6: Add a picture or other image. I used a giraffe stamp that I colored in and attached it with foam dots to a piece of scrapbook paper. Blake's mommy can either leave the giraffe in or as he grows and decor changes she can put a picture of him in it.

The Birthday Badge

2011-09-29T23:05:00.000-05:00

My baby turned 1 yesterday.I can't believe it. It was a great day. We took extra care to make him feel as special as he most surely is.

One thing I've done every year is to create what I call a "birthday badge" for my kids on their birthday. I like the idea of the birthday shirt but I don't like that it's an entire shirt that you can't wear but one day a year. No, the birthday badge is a much better solution.

The badge is made from fabric scraps and ric rack. It has a pin on the back that I can easily attach to his shirt. My kids love their badges because its makes them feel extra special on their extra special day.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!

$2 DIY Cake Stand

2011-09-26T03:00:00.000-05:00

I've been loving all the cake stands I've been seeing on the internet lately. And I've been drooling over painted glass. So darling.

The only thing better than cake is cake on a fun stand.

I call this the $2 cake stand because the main supplies cost exactly $2. The plate and the martini glass came from the Dollar Store. All the other supplies I had on hand. If you carft ever you will probably have these supplies.

Step 1: Clean glass using glass cleaner and remove any stickers.

Step 2: Lay plate face down on table. Place fabric on top and trace around the edge to determine size of fabric. I did it this way because the plate had a lip and I wanted to make sure I had the exact size of fabric.

Step 3: Coat entire bottom of plate in Mod Podge. The more the merrier. If there is a spot you missed with the Mod Podge it will show up so coat that sucker good!

Step 4: Lay fabric (right side down) on plate and smooth out any bubbles.

Step 5: Coat the entire bottom of plate again with Mod Podge to seal the fabric. Let dry. It may looks splochy for a little while but once the glue dries completly it will all look great.

Step 6: Trim any excess fabric with scissors.

Step 7: Pour paint into martini glass and coat the inside generously. Let dry. {You can leave it like this or you can cover the paint with Mod Podge too to give it an extral seal}

Step 8: Turn martini glass over and put your strong glue on the bottom. Place plate on top and let dry. *** This step is optional. You don't need to glue it for it to stay in place. I chose not to glue mine together to make it easier to store.

The top of the platter is completly food safe since you only added stuff to the bottom. Wipe top to clean. Do not soak.

Simple as that. Can you imagine all the posibilites?

Now, who's ready for a doughnut????

Little Abner Winner

2011-09-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

I've randomly selected a winner (via random.org) for the Little Abner Giveaway!

Thanks to all who visited and entered.

A big huge thank you as well to Little Abner for supplying the prize!

Be sure to visit Little Abner whenever you need gorgeous cards.

{Christmas is coming up. I'm just sayin'.}

drum roll please....

The winner is

Kim-the-Girl

{who said} "My Favorite is the brilliant green clover cluster..."

Congratulations Kim you've won a $20 shop credit from Little Abner! I'll be contacting you shortly with instructions for claiming your prize.

Grilling Apron

2011-09-22T04:00:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before we went to Reno for a week. While I was there I was able to deliver Christmas presents. If you're thinking I'm amazing for getting my Christmas presents all sent out early this year you are wrong. These are Christmas presents from LAST YEAR. I have no idea what is wrong with me. Nine months late. I am ashamed. I vow to do better this year.

Here is my dad's present. A new grilling apron with his nickname on it "Meat Man". I've never called him this {I guess his friends do} but I can attest to the fact that my dad is in love with the grill. He always has to be the grill master even when it's not his party. I know that whenever I'm talking to him on the phone and I'm at the grill he is just dying to reach right through the phone and take over.

Using my Sure Cuts A Lot program along with my Cricut I was able to fashion a freezer paper stencil with the words "Meat Man" as well as a superman symbol with a t-bone steak in the middle. I also made the apron.

I hope he likes it because we sure do like him. He's pretty much the best.

I mean for goodness sakes he even got the grouchy, 3 year old anti-picture taker to look into the camera and smile. Now, it takes a special person to make that happen!

Homemade Rock Candy

2011-09-21T03:00:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl one of my favorite things was to visit fun little family attractions and their gift shops. Every good gift shop is filled with kitsch. There are always a endless supply of junk with your name on it (if you're lucky enough to have a popular name) and there is always ALWAYS and generous amount of rock candy. Beautiful, colorful, delicious rock candy.

You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that you can make your own! Pinterest has opened my eyes to so much! I found THIS pin and used it as my guide.

Want to make your own? Here's how -

Supplies:

2 C water
6 C sugar (give or take)
Food coloring (or Kool Aid packets)
Wooden sticks (I used BBQ skewers and sanded down the pointy end)
Tall glasses
Plastic wrap
Clothes pins

Directions:

In pot bring water to a boil adding sugar 1/2 c at a time until it no longer disolves in the water.
Pour syrup into glass and add food coloring. If I were to do this again I will use a Kool Aid packet as dye because it will also add a fun flavor.
Cover with plastic wrap (this part is probably optional but since I live in the south I didn't need anymore bugs comming around than usual so I covered it up).
Push wooden sick through the plastic wrap and clip each stick with a clothes pin to help hold stick upright.
Wait a few days and watch the crystals form. Should take about a week. Don't be alarmed if you don't see crystals right away we didn't have any until after day 2.

Maggie and I enjoyed making these, looked forward to observing its progress everyday and LOVED eating them. A great activity to do with your kids!

Little Abner GIVEAWAY! $20 value!

2011-09-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Today is your lucky day because today Little Abner is giving away a $20 gift card to one lucky Creative Vault reader!

Little Abner is a darling little stationary shop featuring gorgeous prints by artist, Elizabeth Moon. Her shop is filled with stunning high quality shots of seemingly ordinary items that are made extraordinary by the vision and talent of Elizabeth.

Just look at some of these beautiful cards!

Each card is paired with a colorful envelope and the whole thing is packaged in a clear envelope sealed with washi tape. This girl thinks of everything! This stationary would make an excellent gift.

Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

I want to frame them all.

One lucky Creative Vault reader will win a $20 shop credit to Little Abner.

Here's How to Enter:

Visit Little Abner's Shop and take a look around.

Then come back here and leave a comment telling me which card(s) you love the most.

Be sure to leave your email address so I can let you know you've won.

The giveaway closes Friday at 10pm central. Winner will be randomly drawn and announced Saturday.

Once you're done visiting Little Abner, be sure to also check out Elizabeth's blog, The Moonlit Nest. Elizabeth not only takes beautiful pictures but everything she touches somehow just exudes simple beauty. I drool over her classic ethereal style not to mention the fantastic places you get to visit with her and her family as they discover all there is to do in Virginia and the DC area. She's also a fashionista with excellent taste and will keep up up to date with all the latest trends. Here are just a few of my favorite posts of hers.

Strawberry Themed Birthday Party

Zig Zag Table Redo

Grown Up Girl Pajama Party

Good Luck! I hope you win!

{If you are interested in sponsoring a giveaway on The Creative Vault please contact me at thecreativevaut(at)hotmail(dot)com for more information}

Our Week In Reno

2011-09-17T22:32:00.000-05:00

Last week we had the privilege of visiting Nonie and Grampy in Reno, Nevada. It was Grampy's 60th birthday and we had to make an appearance. Luckily Grampy was born at a really fun time and we were able to hit up lots of festivals and events while we were there.

I live in Alabama now (which I love) but I grew up in Reno. I enjoyed growing up there mostly because there was always some sort of street festival going on. You may have heard of the recent tragedy at the Air Races where a plane crashed into the crowd. It's very scary to think of because these festivals in Reno are always packed. Luckily these types of tragedies are rare (keep those people in your prayers!) and most of the events are fun, fun, fun.

We went to the Rib Cook Off. These Southerners approve. The BBQ was gooood and there was so much of it!

We swam at Lake Tahoe. Always beautiful.

We went to the Camel Races in Virginia City. They raced ostriches and zebras too. This ostrich bucked off its rider then proceeded to spin in circles. It was wild.

We even panned for gold and struck it rich!

We also saw lots and lots of balloons at the hot Air Balloon Festival.

We even got up at 4 am to see the dawn patrol light up the sky.

It was a great week. Y'all should really check out Reno sometime. There is always something going on! I enjoyed my time spent with family (they're the greatest) but it's always good to be home. Now maybe I can get back to my true love - crafting and blogging about it. :)

Antique Week: Clocks and Books

2011-09-09T23:51:00.002-05:00

From the looks of a lot of the pins I see on Pinterest there is a big fan base for all things books. Here are some more to add to the drool pile.

There were so many on my parents shelves to choose from but these were my favorites of the day:

The Practical Guide To Health by Frederick M. Rossiter, B.S., M.D., 1913

{From top to bottom}

Jean Valjean from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables edited by Sara E. Wiltse, 1898

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 1944

The Rains Came A Novel of Modern India by Louis Bromfield, 1937

The Last of the Mohicans by J. Fenimore Cooper, 1897

The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain, 1882

The American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster, 1849

Just look at this beautifully stamped leather cover!

An enjoyable excerpt from The Practical Guide to Heath, "Children who are indulged and who are allowed to satisfy the senses simply because it gratifies them, are early taught to live for the mere pleasure of life. They are not taught to say, No, to the appetite. Later in life the habit is foxed, and they become a prey to every passion and storm of the soul."

How's that for a medical book! I'm certain Dr. Rossiter is shaking his head at my parenting skills. A good reminder for us all, I think.

Love books but how about another picture of the insides of a beautiful clock?

Sigh...

Antique Week: Delicate Flowers

2011-09-08T23:16:00.002-05:00

It's Antique Week at my mom's house. It's not possible to show you all the pretty delicate floral things my mom has. She has quite an extensive collection of tea cups and gorgeous china. Some of these items are not antique but definitely weren't purchased yesterday. These are just a tiny sampling of some of my favorite pieces.

Leaf cup and saucer, and heavily floraled sets that make me oh so happy.

Love this English tea tin and seed packet tin.

Teeny tiny kerosene lamps on a crocheted doily. Mom's Royal Albert tea pot is in the back. She has nearly every piece in the set.

The tiny little white plates with pink flowers and gold plating on the rim are so delicate. My mom has a large set of this pattern. We are very lucky to done with them at Christmas.

Flowers, flowers, flowers.

What's not to love?

Antique Week: Crafting

2011-09-07T20:06:00.003-05:00

Continuing on with Antique Week, I had to include some antique craft supplies! I know that there are so many more little treasures in my mom's house but after rummaging for just a short while I found all of these little beauties.

Hand cross stitched table cloth. Maybe done by my grandma???

What's more swoon worthy than an antique jar filled with antique buttons? The lid is to die for.

Tiny ivory crochet hooks perfect for making doilie after doilie.

A very heavy little iron. This is how it used to be done folks. You know, when women actually ironed clothes instead of shoving them in the dryer 15 minutes before leaving the house.

A tiny leather knife box lined in blue velvet, a gorgeous, ornate brass lantern to light up your craft room and {gasp!} a wooden thread carousel with wooden spools of antique thread. And what's that on top? Why it's a tiny little bowl to hold even more little treasures like these gorgeous lion crest embossed buttons.

I wonder how it will go over when I tell my husband that I now need two craft rooms? My functional modern one and my display craft room to show off little gems just like these.

Yep. Definitely need two craft rooms. Sorry babe.

Antique Week

2011-09-06T23:07:00.002-05:00

I love when people post their thrifted items for the week. There are so many fun treasures. I have to admit though, I've developed a slight phobia of thrift stores lately. I'm always afraid I'll be robbed. I built up the courage to go with my friend a few weeks ago and guess what? I was robbed{pick pocketed actually}. I know. It's crazy.

So since you won't be seeing many thrift store finds from me in the near future I thought I would show you something better. Antiques and family heirlooms!! I'm visiting my mother and she has so many fantastic things just lying around her house. I can't wait to show you just a tiny sample.

Brass and wood bell, wash basin pitcher, photo from Nelson photography, Santa Rosa, Cal., leather baby shoes, crochet doilie, rose tapestry and crochet doilie.

I can't start Antique Week without telling you about the wonderful lady behind it all, my Grandma Rosie. My Nonie {that's Italian for Grandma} was born in 1917 and was the best. She was actually the only grandparent I ever knew until I got married and inhered grandparents. She was married to my Grandpa Charlie but he died before I was even born. He was born in 1899. He even served in WWI. Nonie lived on Hopkins Street in Berkley, California most of her life in a house my grandfather built. The home is gorgeous. Grandma was an avid gardener and had an elaborate and perfectly manicured rose garden. It was stunning.

Sadly, my Nonie passed away when I was just a little girl. When she passed we were able to hold on to some of her belongings. It meant so much to me to see all of these antique treasures growing up because they reminded me of her. These things gave me a reverence for the past and for family.

My mother's baby shoes, 1954.

I hope you enjoy looking at these treasures as much as I do.

Check back throughout the week to see lots, lots, more!

Glass Etched Bake Ware for Wedding

2011-09-02T23:27:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we were able to attend another wedding. You should have seen it. Gorgeous. 1,000 yards of tulle, wooden ovals with pink and black silhouettes of the bride and groom and tea cups and saucers glued to brass candle sticks of varying heights as centerpieces. I wish I had taken pictures to show you because I know my description is terrible.

For their gift I made glass etched bake ware. You can view the tutorial HERE. My computer is broken so I can't use my Sure Cuts A Lot software this time. I used my Plantain Schoolbook Cricut cartridge for the letters and Accent Essential cartridge for the scroll design. You can't see it in this picture but the same design is also at the end of the name. I cut out two stencils (since I was making two dishes) of the regular image and then hit the "flip" button on the Cricut and cut out two more.

Because I wanted this

< name >

and not this

< name <

Does that make sense?

Since both of the cartridges I used come with most Cricut Expressions, if you have one you can make the exact same bake ware yourself.

Grilled Corn Salsa

2011-09-01T23:26:00.001-05:00

I had some leftover grilled corn from dinner the other day and knew it needed to be made into a salsa because everything is better with salsa. I mean, Jerry Seinfeld had an entire episode dedicated to it!

Grilling corn is super simple. Just lay your corn (husks and all) on the grill. Rotate occasionally. I don't even bother to soak them or remove the little strings because there is enough moisture in the husk already and the strings either singe off or they are super easy to remove after it's been cooked. I do however trim off the floppy outsides of the husk. No sense in starting a fire with unnecessary extra husk.

It tasted great with tacos and quesadillas. The sweetness of the corn made it perfect.

Want the super simple recipe?? Here it is.

Ingredients:

1- 1.5 ears of grilled corn kernels
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
chili powder

Directions:

Combine first four ingredients in a bowl.
Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice.
Season with salt and chili powder.

Make Your Own Coupon Keeper

2011-08-31T10:17:00.002-05:00

Whether you're a major coupon clipper or just use a coupon here or there it's a great way to save money. I used to be a big couponer and sadly after I was pregnant with baby #2 I just fizzled out. I do use coupons when I can but I don't collect them from the paper anymore.

Here is what I would use to store my coupons in an organized and easy way.

I was in desperate need of a larger coupon holder and I didn't want to have to buy a binder and business card holder inserts. I estimated that to do so would have cost me around $10-$15 which would have defeated the point of all my coupon clipping these past few weeks.

I went digging in an old drawer and found a picture holder from the 7th grade (yes, that would be over 15 years ago). Thank goodness I didn't throw it out! There were a few crummy pictures in it and I hadn't touched it for years. I took the pictures out and created paper tabs (I cut my tabs using my Cricut but you can just fold over rectangles of paper) and stapled them to the inside. I then sorted my coupons. The labels are for the sections of the store, baby, dairy, meat, cereals, toiletries, medicine etc. The photo book spaces are the perfect size to store irregular sized coupons too.

Simple as that! They are now organized, easy to view, and easy to find. Now I'm not flipping through my messy stacks of coupons trying to find what I am looking for. And it's a great way to reuse all those picture books you are not using.

2011-08-20T23:55:00.000-05:00

I bet you're wondering if I dropped off the face of the earth. The truth is my computer is broken and I have just had my iPod to work off of or I have to wait until the hubby surrenders the lap top. Between a PhD, video games and fantasy football I obviously don't get to use it much. :)

Would you forgive me though if I told you that I have tutorials coming for which you can make yourself a new dress, leather purse and a bunch more stuff to help you keep your house clean and cute?? I hope you can. I may just throw in some giveaways too.

Thanks for your patience and keep an eye out for awesome stuff to come.

Y'all are the best!!

Homemade Play Dough from The Worlds Best Cookbook

2011-08-17T05:00:00.001-05:00

You've probably seen lots of recipes for homemade play dough but this one is the best because it came from the best cookbook there is.

I got this cookbook when I was 4 years old. Throughout my childhood I poured over its pages and made nearly every recipe in it. The first thing I ever made was guacamole. Since then I've been perfecting the recipe and it's one of my best dishes. I'll share the recipe with you just as soon as avocados don't cost a million dollars.

Well worn but in pretty good condition considering it's 25 years old. I still use it all the time. It also came with a set of colorful measuring spoons which I still use every day.

Here's everything you need, taken straight from the book.

Ingredients:

1 C. white flour
1/4 C. salt
1Tb vegetable oil
2 Tb cream of tartar
1 cup water
2 tsp food coloring

Directions:

Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium pot.
Add water, food coloring and oil.
Stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Don't worry if the mixture looks like a globby mess; it'll turn into dough.
When the mixture forms a ball in the center of the pot, take it out and put it on a floured surface. Squish it and punch it around a bit; this is called kneading.
When you're done put it in a plastic bag or airtight container.

This play dough works beautifully and lasts forever. The only time we make more is when we want another color. Have fun making this with your kids. You'll all love it!

Art Bags for Kids

2011-08-15T01:00:00.000-05:00

I've seen this activity done a few different ways. I'm not sure what to call it so I guess I'll call them art bags for lack of a better name. I guess it's sort of like a homemade Magna Doodle.

Mags really enjoyed drawing and making designs, erasing them and making more designs. It's a great boredom buster and you can make one with supplies you have around the house.

It's hard to see her drawings because the table is the same color as the art bag but it's there. I promise.

Supplies:

Gallon size Ziploc bag
tape
1/4 c. pudding **avoid chocolate flavor - read story below
about 1 Tb. glitter
Q-tips

Directions:

Place pudding in bag along with glitter.
Mash bag to mix the pudding and glitter thoroughly.
Remove all air from bag and seal it up. Use tape for additional seal {especially if your kids are younger and are tempted to open it and eat the pudding like Miss Maggie was}.
Use q-tips as writing utensil.
You can store in fridge when not using it. It should last a long time especially since you won't be eating it.

Yay! Easy as that!

Okay so I have to tell you a story. This is a warning actually so if you ignore my warning and this happens to you I get to point and laugh at you and say "I told you so".

Several years ago my friend Laura saw in a family magazine an idea to do finger painting with pudding. That way the kids can paint but it's also safe to eat. Well Laura wanted to do this with her daughter Emmeline who was maybe 2 at the time so she pulled out the chocolate pudding she had in her cupboard and they painted. It was great! They had so much fun! Later Emmeline took a nap after a while Laura went in to check on her and creative little Emmeline discovered that there were "finger paints" in her diaper! There were poop murals everywhere!!!! She said the activity was fun but the chocolate pudding color apparently sent some mixed signals to the kiddo. I sure hope Laura can laugh about it now.

Flash forward to last week when we made our art bags. All I had was chocolate pudding in our cupboard. I was reminded of Laura's story, giggled in my head and used the chocolate pudding anyway. I told myself that this would never happen to us because "Maggie is older than Emmeline was" "Maggie is potty trained" "Maggie has never been interested in poop" "We're not finger painting exactly. It's in a bag." "She would never do that" etc. You can see, I had lots of reasons to carry on with the chocolate pudding. I made the bag and ran upstairs to grab a q-tip, not more than a minute later Maggie is standing next to me showing me her dirty hands. She says, "Uh oh. Dirty." I realize that I should have sealed the bag better and she must have opened it up. Upon closer inspection I discover that it was poop!!! She had an accident in her pull-up and decided to check it out. Luckily she realized her mistake right away and there were no murals, but still - Yuck!

I couldn't believe it. I was warned. Why didn't I listen?

Laura, this is where you get to point and laugh at me and say, "I told you so."

So the moral of the story is do this activity. It's a lot of fun.

But whatever you do don't use chocolate.

Roasted Tapatio Chick Peas

2011-08-13T15:44:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago I made these salt and vinegar chick peas from Oh She Glows. I found the recipe on Pinterest. They are amazing. This is the kind of snack that calls to me at all hours of the day and night, begging to be eaten. Since then I've been experimenting with different flavors and the best one by a landslide is Tapatio flavor!

Now, I haven't decided on who I'm going to vote for for president yet but I'm considering this guy -

Tapatio is the greatest thing ever invented.

I have a confession:

I eat a liter of this hot sauce every month.

{Cardiologists around the world are having strokes as they read this.}

I just can't help myself, its so delicious it belongs on everything. And I mean everything. If it makes you feel better, I've cut down. I used to eat 2 liters a month.

Ready for the simple recipe??

Ingredients:

1 can chick peas, drained
1-2 tsp olive oil
1-2 tsp Tapatio hot sauce

Directions:

Place chick peas in a baking dish (9x9 works well)
Drizzle with olive oil and stir until all pieces are coated.
Bake in oven at 400 F for 30 minutes, stirring the chick peas occasionally to make sure they don't burn on one side.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with hot sauce, stir to make sure that the sauce coats the chick peas evenly.
Place back in oven and cook additional 10-15 minutes until dark golden brown.
Remove from oven again and toss more sauce on them. They will be very hot and the sauce should bake right onto them without having to put them back into the oven.
Let cool and enjoy!

*** All ovens vary. If they do not look like they are crisping up enough cook for longer. But be aware that as they cool they will become slightly more crunchy.

These are so crunchy, flavorful, and delicious with just the perfect amount of spice. I store them in a container in my cupboard and it makes for a great snack packed with protein and of course, Tapatio!

KEEP CALM and READ ON

2011-08-10T05:00:00.006-05:00

Have you seen the posters with a little crown that say

KEEP CALM

and

CARRY ON?

Of course you have.

Because they are EVERYWHERE.

It was cute at first. Now it's just getting a little crazy. I'm seeing these posters pop up everywhere. And they want you to keep calm about almost everything.

{Harry Potter, travel, baking, sewing, typing, getting married, super heros,

fishing, shopping, rocking out, bird watching, dog owning, blah, blah, blah.}

Seriously the list goes on forever. Click HERE to see my simple google search.

You'll see what I mean.

Which has me asking -

I just don't get it. Why is everyone freaking out? Why is everything so upsetting?

Have people gone mad? Are they taking crazy pills? Is there something I don't know?

Is there some sort of bioweapon that causes mass panic like in Batman and the only cure is a message from the Queen telling us to keep calm?

I always thought the cure for anything was more cow bells but surely, this must be it.

My only question left is what's next?

Possibly...

It's the only topic I haven't seen covered yet.

Actually, this one's not so bad.

I think I'll have to print that one out and put it next to the little potty. That way, the next time the 3 year old flips out and starts screaming and running away naked in a desparate attempt to avoid the "big girl potty", I'll simply just shake my head, point to the sign and then she'll be calm and completly understand. It will be a potty training miracle.

Thanks KEEP CALM sign! Now I understand you.

I kid of course, but seriously, what's up? Where did these come from in the first place?

Though they are everywhere they still are kind of fun. Which one is your favorite??

Menu Board

2011-08-09T00:03:00.001-05:00

My friend Sabrina is the best. She spoils me and my kids rotten. I love spending time with her and look forward to the summers because that means extra Sabrina time. She teaches High School science and has 4 {awesome} teenage kids that keep her busy the rest of the year.

Last week we made sure to get in an extra day together before school started back up and she came bearing crafty gifts. She brought me an 11x14 inch frame {the size you would get for an 8x10 picture with mat} and the idea to make menu boards! This was something I desperately needed!

I used scraps of 12x12 paper and included a ribbon embellishment. I cut out letters using my Cricut cartridge, "All Mixed Up", to write Menu and the letters of the days of the week. Place your page behind the glass and you have an adorable dry erase board to write your menu for the week.

This is the basic idea of a menu. I'm still new to this planning things out business and this menu got changed about 10 times this week but it's a start. I already feel like I have dinner better under control. I love it. The best part is you can make several backgrounds and switch it up whenever you want. How fun will it be to do different backgrounds for the Holidays?

Sabrina did 3 different fun backgrounds and this was one of them. The font was from the cartridge, "Plantain School Book" italic font. The coolest part about Sabrina's was that she had this amazing idea to attach a magnetic shopping list to the board.

She used e-6000 glue to attach two metal pieces. The list sticks right on. She said that she didn't take into account the extra weight on one side but once she used some double sided tape on the back the leaning was no problem I'm certain an extra hook in the back of the frame would work as well.

Hope you feel inspired to make your own. This was so simple and fin to do.

Thanks Sabrina!!!

So Grateful Sunday: Reno Temple Cross Stitch from Alicia

2011-08-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

I need to introduce you to my dearest and oldest friend, Alicia. No, not me, Alicia. A-lish-a. I'm
A-leash-a. Clear as mud? That's okay. We're used to the name confusion.

Alicia and I met my Freshman year of High School (her Sophomore) and we've been besties ever since. We've been through some good times her and I. Like tagging random stupid stuff on the walls next to gangster and tag artist's street names. Yeah we know we're cool. {Don't worry it was a designated place in Reno for this kind of thing. No need to call the authorities.} Do you like how I took a picture of a picture? I told you she was my oldest friend, we didn't even have digital cameras back then.

Here's a picture of Alicia with her adorable family. I love that her kids hate pictures just like mine do.

(photo stolen from facebook. sue me.)

Alicia is amazing. She is the friend that everyone should have. She is so generous. She is always doing things for others and is always thinking about what she can do to help out. She's a talented photographer and will take any ones pictures for free. Anytime. You don't find a lot of people who will do that. She also takes the time to put on wonderful showers for people (she did my bridal shower!) and they always turn out so fabulous. I also love that she is so funny. Seriously, I don't even know if she means to be but everything she says is so thoughtful and hilarious. She's so stinkin' smart it kills me. In High School she pretended to play the trumpet because the band was going to Hawaii that year and she really wanted to go. She was terrible! But she got to go to Hawaii! Ha ha. I wish I could list all of her "best of" moments but this post would be forever.

The thing I love most about Alicia is that she's honest. Not just the kind of honest where people will return a lost wallet honest. I mean honest honest. She will always tell you the truth about anything. She's not going to sugar coat something just because. She'll always tell you if your breath stinks or if there's spinach in your teeth. Everyone needs a friend like that. One that will tell things to you straight because they care about you. More people on American Idol need friends like Alicia. I love that I know that Alicia is always being genuine and true to herself. And when I get compliments from her they mean so much more to me than anything else because I know that she really means what she says.

Another thing that I think is cool about Alicia is that she's always trying new things and when she makes a goal she follows through. You don't find many adults that decide that they want to learn to play piano and then go out and do it. She's gotten quite good too. So if you're nervous about learning something new or following a dream you should just do it. Alicia did and it's made her very happy.

As expected she was at my wedding and she had her camera in hand. I don't know if she would pick this as her favorite of the roll but I really love it.

In addition to pictures and a slide show she also gave us this beautiful cross stitch of the Reno Nevada Temple where John and I were married. It's quite large and very detailed. Even the tulips in the front are the exact color. This must have taken her forever to do. I've cross stitched before I know know the time it takes. This just blows my mind.

I apologize for the bad pictures it was the best I could get with my skills and lighting issues. I hope you can get a glimpse though of this gorgeous piece of art. It has hung on my wall every day and will continue to hang there forever.

I'm so grateful to have Alicia in my life. It would be so dull without her! Thanks Alicia for being there for me all these years. I couldn't have asked for a better friend!

Caramelized Onion, Spinach, & Bacon White Pizza

2011-08-06T00:29:00.000-05:00

I love experimenting with pizza.

This was this weeks pizza experiment and we really enjoyed how it turned out. John likes more of a marinara pizza with lots of meat and I love well... this. But we both agreed it was a keeper of a recipe. In my opinion the onions put this over the top. Definitely a technique I'll be using again for pizza.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (I buy the refrigerated fresh dough from the Publix bakery)
1/3 c. Alfredo sauce
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 head of garlic (about 5-6 cloves), chopped
1 TB butter
1 tsp sugar
2 large handfuls of fresh spinach, chopped
6 slices of bacon, chopped
Mozzarella cheese (I used fresh slices but grated would be fine too)
1 TB cornmeal
Pan spray

Directions:

In medium pan melt butter and saute garlic and onions until soft and light brown. Add sugar and continue to cook until onions become caramelized. Remove from heat.
Preheat oven to 400F
Spray pan with pan spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. This will keep dough from sticking to pan.
Place dough in pan and spread Alfredo sauce evenly onto dough.
Spread onions onto Alfredo sauce evenly.
Place chopped spinach onto pizza.
Cover with mozzarella cheese
In pan you cooked the onions in partially cook the bacon pieces. They should still be soft but not raw. This will ensure they will crisp up enough in the oven and be cooked thoroughly. It also reduces some of the extra fat. Sprinkle on top of pizza when par-cooked.
Place entire pie in oven and cook for 12-15 minutes or until light brown and melty.

When you're done, it looks something like this.

Mango Salsa

2011-08-03T00:02:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for an easy, fresh, delicious, chunky salsa to go with well... anything?

Ingredients:

1 fresh mango, diced {Go HERE for How To Cut A Mango tutorial}
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1-2 Tb. olive oil
1-2 Tb. lemon juice
salt
chili powder

Directions:

Place first 4 ingredients in bowl.
Drizzle with oil and lemon juice.
Season with salt and chili powder to taste.

Told you it was easy.

You can put this on anything or everything.

It's also yummy to just eat straight out of the bowl!

Here's how the Cutts Family {that's us} likes it:

On top of grilled steak tacos

Red leaf lettuce salad topped with Siesta Chicken and Mango Salsa

As a side to bacon wrapped BBQ baked chicken with basmatti rice

Plain ol' chips and salsa

How To Cut Up A Mango

2011-08-02T23:44:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I get sad when people say they love mango's but they can't figure out how to cup them up {because of that huge weird seed in the middle} so they don't ever get them. Mango's are so delicious! Don't deny yourself mango's anymore! I will show you how to slice and dice to your hearts delight.

Step 1: First things first - get a ripe Mango. Too hard and the flavor won't be ripe. Too soft and it will taste fine but will be stringy. Pick one that is firm but still has a little give when you squeeze it.

Step two: Turn your mango up so that the pointy tip is pointing toward the sky. Carefully {Don't cut yourself!} place the knife slightly off center and slowly cut downward {I use a slight sawing motion when I cut} following as close to the seed as you can.

Should look like this when you are done. See the seed on the one on the left?

Step 3: Do the same thing you did in step 2 but with the other side.

And it now looks like this. The seed is on the left.

Step 4: Do the same thing you did in step 2 & 3 with the skinny sides around the seed.

Step 5: Don't let the seed go to waste. For doing all the hard work you are now to reward yourself by scraping that baby clean. You can use your teeth for that part. See? I even have some mango stuck in mine. Go to town.

Step 6: Being careful not to slice through the skin, score lines in the mango horizontally, then vertically.

Step 7: Push on the back of the mango and flip it inside out.

Step 8: Use your knife to shave off pieces into a bowl. I cut it once and then cut it again just closer to the skin the second time. This part will all depend on what size you want your pieces.

Step 9: For the smaller pieces, score it the same way but you can lay these flat and fillet the skin off the mango.

Now you can stop being afraid of mangoes and embrace them in all of their deliciousness!

_______________________

I always put my mangoes in my super tasty, super fresh, super simple Mango Salsa.

Be sure to go HERE to get the recipe.

The Ruffled Mod Dress

2011-08-01T21:24:00.000-05:00

Do y'all remember when I showed you the Mod Mod Dress that I designed?

Well, I used the same basic pattern but with a twist - Ruffles!!

Oh wait, here's another twist - It's completly repurposed!

I got this shirt for free a while ago. It's Old Navy brand, maybe you've seen this shirt before?? I never wore it but kept it because I liked the fabric. Time went on and I wasn't doing anything with it so I tried to sell it at a yard sale (twice) for $1. No takers. So I turned it into something new. I bet I could get a $1 for it now.

The main fabric is this shirt. The lining for the top part is from scraps from my New Glory His & Hers Outfits. And the hook in the back is from an old bra. {You can read about that HERE}

I know it's hard to see {the pattern is so busy} but there are 3 tuxedo ruffles down the front of the top.

A double layer of ruffled sleeve.

And right there in the corner {if you squint} there is a little pocket with a little white button closure.

Here's the back.

We tried to pose in the backyard for pictures.

But we were easily distracted by all of the interesing stuff back there.

And then the mosquitoes came and things got itchy.

Real itchy.

And two sad shots later we were done.

"Those darn skeeters!"

Hope you feel inspired to dig around your closet and turn something old into something new!

The Lamp Re-Vamp HIS & HERS

2011-07-29T23:24:00.001-05:00

When I found out that this month's Create With Me project at Ucreate was lamps I was so excited. The CSI Project is also lamps. I've had two of these lamps for a while now and I just haven't been motivated to do anything with them. My friend Missy sold them to me at a yard sale (and by sold I mean she gave them to me, she's nice like that) a while ago. I thought I wanted to use them in my living room so I started to paint them black but then I changed my mind and they sat.

I used the tutorials HERE as a starting point for my inspiration and this is the end result

His & Hers lamps for the kids rooms! Jackson's theme is dinosaurs and Maggie's is birds.

How I did HIS:

I removed the outside fabric of the shade and used it to trace the proper shape onto grey fabric. Once I had my fabric cut out I stenciled a "j" onto the fabric and free hand painted the dinosaur. After letting the paint dry I then hot glued the fabric onto the frame, pulling as tightly as I could. I finished it off by coating the whole thing in Mod Podge I felt it protected the fabric a little better and would be easier to clean. I also felt like it helped tighten up any loose patches once the Mod Podge dried and shrank the fabric. I then hot glued a little piece of ribbon in the inside to cover my seams.

I may decide to paint the base red in the future but for now I like the blue.

Looking for more of Baby Jack's decorations? You'll find them here:

Shag Rug

Wall Hanging

How I did HERS:

I removed all of the fabric from the shade and wrapped the top and bottom rings in sisal, using hot glue to secure it in place. I then wrapped the entire shade horizontally in sisal again using hot glue to secure it in place. The sisal gave it the nature feel that her decorations have but I also wanted to give it a little birdie so I cut out a tiny bird shape from fabric, sewed it and stuffed it and hung it from a chain to create a faux lamp chain look.

Looking for more of Mags' decorations? You'll find them here:

Birdie Quilt

Bird Tree

Hope you feel inspired to do your own lamp makeover.

It feels good to have them finished and it really ads a little something special to their room.

Thanks Kari @ Ucreate and The CSI Project for the extra push I needed to get these done!

_____________________________

Crayon Rolls

2011-07-28T05:00:00.001-05:00

One of the best things for a beginner sewer to make are crayon rolls. They don't take long to make and it's just straight lines. Super simple. I first learned how to make them at one of my favorite blogs, Skip To My Lou. I used her Crayon Roll Tutorial as a starting point and have made a ton of these since.

These were the very first crayon rolls I made. I fell in love with the fabric. I got both fabrics from Hobby Lobby. Eventhough it was a few years ago that I purchased mine, you can still find both fabrics there.

I love this cowboy one so much I'm thinking of having Baby Jack's first birthday party based off of it. Still on the fence though...

For these I used ribbon for ties but since then I've been using elastic cord that I loop and sew into one side of the roll. You can read HERE about where I get my cord.

Isn't this fabric great? Such a fun fabric especially for travel.

I have a huge stack of fabric cut out for rolls for a project my mom and I are working on but I'll have to show that to you when it's finished.

Currently crayons are banned from our house because someone (cough, cough, Maggie, cough) has had a little problem coloring on well... everything.

So if your child doesn't have a crayon to wall addiction you should totally make some rolls for your kids. They also make great gifts!

Felt Board: Under The Sea

2011-07-26T05:00:00.001-05:00

Friday morning Maggie and I were looking for something to do. Baby had just laid down to take a nap so I decided it was time to work on a fun project together. We made a felt board! It was so simple and 100% free since I had all of the felt scraps on hand. Maggie has been playing with it non-stop since.

I took the side off of a huge diaper box and covered it with a sheet of white felt. I cut the felt to be slightly larger than the cardboard, wrapped it around each side and secured it with a thin strip of hot glue.

I used white so I could make lots of felt scenes in the future but today was all about the ocean so I cut out a large piece of blue felt for my ocean waves.

I sat with my pile of felt scraps and Maggie dictated to me what she wanted. Nemo Daddy, Nemo, Dori, Shark, Ariel, and eyes she was very concerned that I was going to forget their eyes. I even cut out some generic fish and let her color them. I pieced them together using hot glue.

Each piece was cut by hand without a pattern and in a hurry so some pieces look a little funky. A 3 year old waits for no one. But you know what? It doesn't have to be perfect.

Do you like my hand-less Ariel ghost? Haha.

She enjoys it and we spent some quality time together making it.

That's the only part that needs to be perfect.

When I asked her what her favorite piece was do you know what she told me?

"Ariel!"

Yes. Ariel, the hand-less ghost was the catch of the day.

You can imagine my surprise when I saw this later in the evening -

"Maggie!! What in the world happened to Ariel?! She's decapitated!"

To which she grabbed the shark and said, "Num, num, num, num (think Jaws theme music) chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp, chomp!"

Well, at least she's got imagination.

Birdie Quilt

2011-07-25T05:00:00.004-05:00

I've shown you a few things I've made to decorate Baby Jack's (side of the) room HERE and HERE but I haven't shown you anything I've made for Maggie. Well, I guess that's not entirely true, I did end up putting the birdie tree in there after we did the Birdie Baby Shower a few months ago. Anyway, I guess I better show you some of her stuff to. Maggie's room is decorated in browns, pinks and greens. All sorts of patterns, shades, prints, etc. And there are little birds everywhere because she's my little Magpie.

I am no quilter by any means. I don't have the skills or the patience, but I did want to try so here is my first and only quilt (thus far).

I appliqued a little birdie to each square. Each bird has a different kind of ribbon for their legs. I just placed two pieces of ribbon that I tied in knots at the bottom for feet and then secured the applique with a zig zag stitch.

I pieced all the squares together and then used what I think is called the tie method to secure it all in place. I used brown embroidery thread to secure a button (brown, green and pink) and then tied it in a knot leaving a little thread showing out of the button. The quilt top was made using pieces of fabric from my personal stash.

Here's the whole thing...

For the back I wanted to incorporate some of the patterns from the front in a fun way. But here's the "what were you thinking?" moment - instead of appliqueing the strips on like I did with the birds on the front, I cut out holes in the brown fabric and then pieced the strips in. Why? That was so much harder! Consequently it made the fabric not lay as nicely but after washing it doesn't make much of a difference.

But I don't want to dwell on the negative so let's just look at the cute little birdies on the front again shall we?

Love those birdies!

I think I'm ready to tackle a dino quilt next!

So Grateful Sunday: My Brother Ian and His Koi Fish Painting

2011-07-24T00:03:00.001-05:00

This is my baby brother, Ian.

He's super talented and I really love him.

This is his girlfriend Amanda.

She's super cute.

They're having a baby soon. I can't wait for my first little nephew on the O'Boyle side. I'm working on some crafts for the little guy but that's going to have to wait, because today is all about Ian.

Ian is twins with Collin. I know, they look nothing alike. You will not find more opposite twins. Ever. But like his brother Collin, Ian is also stand up guy and is really special to me.

Ian kind of has two personalities. The sensitive side and the wild side.

Ian's always looking out for others. Have you watched that show What Would You Do? where they show crazy things happening to see if anyone steps in? Well, Ian would be the one to jump in every time, even if its dangerous or inconvenient. Just the other day on his way to work he witnessed a car accident. He stayed with an older woman who was upset and clueless as to what to do and stopped the other lady from driving off. Even though it meant missed time from work he stayed to help them out.

One time he was driving and saw something move along the side of the road. He pulled over and it was a premature baby deer! The mother had been killed by a car and the baby was expelled from the mothers stomach. He held the deer and comforted it, probably saving it's life, until police were able to come and rescue it. Can you imagine?

Needless to say, Ian will always have your back.

He's compassionate and kind but as I mentioned before this kid is also crazy wild. I swear, he's lucky I let him live through his childhood, this boy drove me crazy. He was always a performer and having my friends over meant putting on a show in his mind. Although he made me nuts sometimes I have to admit he was very entertaining and funny.

When I was bringing my serious boyfriend home for the first time to meet the family, Ian caught wind that John (my now husband) was a conservative, shy, Canadian, hands to yourself, kind of guy. Ian made sure not to bathe and put on the shortest 70's shorts he could find and knee high socks. When John walked through the door, Ian ran to him, threw his arms around him, nuzzled his head on John's chest and proceeded to tell him how excited he was to meet him. For 5 minutes! It's a miracle John didn't run out screaming after that! Ha ha. Gosh Ian is funny. You've just gotta' love those wild ones.

Oh and did I mention he's super talented too?

For our wedding Ian painted me this gorgeous painting. It's 2 feet x 3 feet and the colors are just stunning.

We had an Asian themed wedding. I thought it would be fun and it was.

Ian wanted to make something to go along. Isn't it beautiful?

Just look at the detail...

It's been hanging in random places around the house since then but I think I've found the perfect spot for it. You'll have to see when I've finished with the whole room.

Happiness and Harmony.

It was his wish for our future. I wish you and Amanda the same for yours.

I love you Ian! Thanks for the beautiful painting!

Jean Bean Bag Surprise

2011-07-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

My husband and I got married just before our senior year of college. We were poor. So so poor. We were living on love and prayer. Not a bad way to live actually but it means you don't have a ton of stuff.

To solve a seating issue, I decided to make a bean bag chair. It's pretty massive. I used old jeans cut small squares and sewed those into 6 large squares. The bag is actually one big cube. At one of the big seams I used the zippers from the jeans for an opening. Into the opening I shoved an old down comforter I wasn't using and cut up my mattress pad from sleeping on those crappy college room beds all those years for the stuffing. Free, comfy seating. It was great.

Here it is -

(It's seen much better days. You can tell it's had many years of use.)

You can imagine my shock when I heard it giggling the other day. What in the world?!?

"Suh-pies!"

This thing is so old it grew a kid!

John thinks it's time to sew up the holes. I think it's time to say good bye and buy some actual furniture. Maggie thinks it's perfect just the way it is.

Salvage! Salvage! Salvage!

2011-07-21T05:00:00.002-05:00

My house is like a craft store. I have so many supplies. I love that I have what seems like an endless supply of well... supplies! The best is most of the stuff I have is free because I salvage usable craft items from things around my house before I throw them away.

Now, please don't take this to mean that you should keep every piece of junk that enters your house. Oh my goodness, no. Have you seen Hoarders?!? I'm no minimalist and my house has it's fair share of craft clutter, but I work hard to not cross over into the realm of whatever that is. You have to be wise about what you save and what you don't. Give yourself rules. Here are mine.

Ask yourself, is saving this worth the effort?
Make sure you have a place for it.
Make sure you have a use for it in the near future.

Here's an example of something worth salvaging to me. In the post about the Good Deed Tree I mention that I used an old burlap rice sack. I kept the sack knowing that I would have a use for the burlap in the future since it is a popular fabric in crafting right now. When I needed to make the tree I had the sack on hand, folded up on my fabric shelf.

I used the bottom of the sack for the Good Deed Tree and what was left of the top was the handles and the zipper. Now I could have gone crazy and found some use for the handles. Perhaps for handles of a purse but it didn't follow rules 1 & 3 for me so I chucked the rest of the burlap and saved the zipper.

Let's see if it follows the rules shall we?

Ask yourself, is saving this worth the effort?

Yes. Zippers can be expensive and the 3 minutes it takes for me to save it is financially beneficial to me.

Make sure you have a place for it.

In the sewing notions drawer in my craft room.

Make sure you have a use for it in the near future.

Can be put in one of the many outfits I am working on designing or on a purse.

I simply pulled out my seam ripper and less than 5 minutes later...

... I had a zipper to add to my personal craft store.

Today's lesson:

Don't be a hoarder and let your house get so out of control that you don't know how many dead cats are living under the piles and piles of rubbish (you've got to watch the show), but don't waste perfectly good stuff either. Be smart about what you keep and what you toss and you'll find yourself satisfied with the nice collection of supplies you've acquired.

Other craft salvage suggestions:

Keep the ribbon off of anything and everything.
Remove all buttons off of clothing items.
Cut off the good pieces of fabric that a clothing item might still have so it's easier to store with your other fabrics.
Remove all working zippers.
Strip old bras of the eye hooks for use in other sewing projects
On broken shoes or belts save the buckles for use on bags or other belts you may make.
Remove elastic from waistbands to use on another project.
Keep the elastic cord that comes with new kids shoes (to keep the pair together) and use as a closure with crayon rolls, or like I did was the back closure on the Mod Mod Dress.
Before you toss a card, keep any reusable embellishment - brads, fancy paper clips, jewels etc.

Anyone have any other salvage ideas? I'd love to hear them!

South of The Border Chicken and Vegetable Soup

2011-07-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

A simple, hearty and healthy soup.

This soup is so yummy and the only way I can get vegetables into my 3 year old.

I created this soup for Christmas Eve one year and have been enjoying it ever since. In fact, even though its 100 degrees outside I think I'm going to make a bowl of soup. No amount of temperature can keep me from enjoying a good bowl of soup.

Ingredients:

1 can cooked chicken breast
1 can tomato sauce
1 can beef broth
1 can water
1/2 large onion, chopped
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, small chop
1 stick celery, cut in half lengthwise and chopped
corn from one cob or 1/4 cup kernels
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro
1-2 Tb. olive oil
salt
lemon pepper
cumin powder
chili powder
cayenne pepper

Directions:

In pot, heat olive oil. Saute onion, garlic, carrot and celery until soft.
Add tomato. Saute additional 3-5 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, broth, chicken and water. Cook until boiling.
Add spices according to taste.
Serve with grated cheese, sour cream or tortilla chips.

Serves approx. 4

The Lace Vase

2011-07-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

Are you ready for a simple project anyone can do?

Introducing...

It's so simple even a three year old can do it.

Seriously.

This three year old crafted this darling vase.

Do you let your kids craft with you?

I hope you do.

Crafting with your kids doesn't have to be all finger paints and pipe cleaners. Every time I craft I usually have one of my kids by my side. Sometimes they have important helper jobs like handing me pins when I need them, or sorting out the colors of my button collection, or sitting on my lap as I sew. They love it. I love it. Sometimes you can even hand over the reins and let them take charge. I bet they'll surprise you.

This is the vase before.

My wonderful, thoughtful friend Mary gave me a beautiful boquet of flowers when Jackson was born and they came in this tall blue vase. {I'm officially declaring blue (especially navy) the new IT color.} This vase has been sitting in my window sill since then and I got the idea to add a little lace to it. I got some random scraps of lace from Great Grandma Cutts and I'm pretty sure it's vintage. I wanted to use it in a pretty way so the Lace Vase was born. I love combining beautiful things. Plus, it makes me think of Grandma and Mary and that just makes me smile.

Supplies:

Glass Vase
Lace
Mod Podge
Foam brush

Step 1: Cut lace to fit your vase. My lace was in sheets and not on a spool so I had to cut around the flower design to give me a strip of lace with a nice decorative edge. but you can purchase pre-trimmed lace at any craft store.

Step 2: Place lace on a piece of plastic (I jused a grocery bag) and cover the entire piece of lace in Mod Podge.

Step 3: (Here's where mom steps in) Place the lace onto your vase and work it until it lays the way you want it to.

Step 4: Dab Modpodge on top of the lace until the entire piece is completly coated. Let dry.

{I would consider this project to be semi-permanent.}

You can rinse it to wash it and the lace is stuck on pretty well. However if you ever decide that you want your vase back, sans lace, than you can soak it in water and scrub the vase back to its original state.

Crafting with your kids is SO worth it. Look at this proud and excited face!

Your vase is fabulous, Maggie. Simply fabulous.

Nice work baby girl!

So Grateful Sunday - Katie's Nursery Song Pocket Flip Book

2011-07-17T14:34:00.001-05:00

This is Katie.

She's the best.

I think she might be the Utes biggest fan.

(Sorry, Katie I had to steal your Facebook picture.)

Katie and I have been friends for several years now and my life is so much better because of it. I've taught all her kids at Church and we served in a Young Women Presidency together. We've had a lot of good times together. She's super mom. Somehow she can handle 4 kids and a husband with a busy doctor's schedule, about a million neighbor kids at any time, and a billion other things and does it all with a smile. She's so relaxed and just plain cool. She takes every opportunity that comes her way gladly and because of her enjoy life attitude, she's traveled all over the world and done all kinds of amazing things. I love to hear about all of her fun adventures.

She makes me laugh, she's always dependable, she's a great example of a mom, she's held my hand through 3 Twilight movie midnight showings and even putting up with my squeals and constant giggling. Ha! Like I said, she's the best.

Recently, Katie has been the nursery (kids 18mo-3 years) song leader at Church. The kids love her. Especially my daughter. Maggie has a hard time with words but songs just speak to her little heart and she loves them. In nursery Katie has a flip chart that she uses to show the kids which song they are going to sing next. It's easy for the kids to identify and they love it.

Recently Katie made each child their own pocket flip book. Maggie has been in heaven and hasn't put hers down! She flips the pages and sings the songs to herself. I love to watch her.

Katie took the pictures from her flip book and printed them on photo paper. On the back she hand wrote the names of the songs. Finally she punched a hole in the cards and put them on a ring. I know it had to have taken her some time to do one for each child. It was a labor of love.

Here are just a few examples of the pictures. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, If you're happy and you know it, The wise man and the foolish man, and the last one doubles for two - Jesus wants me for a sunbeam & I'm trying to be like Jesus.

If you'd like the words to these songs or music for any other children's songs and hymns you can get them HERE.

We love Katie's gift and will treasure it for a long, long time. Last week I sadly had to say goodbye to her and her great family as fantastic career opportunities opened up, and the state of Utah has stolen them from us. Good luck on settling into your new place and know that we miss you!

Shark Birthday Party

2011-07-14T12:03:00.001-05:00

My friend Amy's little boy was turning six and he requested a shark themed birthday party. How cool is that? Amy is always helping out at every party, she's the cupcake queen, so I was so glad she let me help out on Ethan's big day.

Amy is a super talented cupcake and cake decorator, you can see for yourself at her blog, Indulge With Me. Seriously, her skills blow me away.

I just stuck to creating a few decorations for the party. Amy did the hard work.

I created this little shark invitation. I made a template, and Amy and I cut out the pieces and assembled them. Amy wrote all the party information on the inside and even wrote "Come or be shark bait!" Haha love it!

For the front door I made this sign. I looked on the Internet at several shark warning signs and settled on this one. I took a 12x12 piece of yellow paper and rounded the edges. I used my Cricut and my Sure Cuts a Lot Program and cut out the letters and shark from black paper and glued it on. Super simple.

Every party needs a birthday banner. Amy had this great idea to hang a net from her ceiling and I thought it would be fun to hand the fish in this. I cut the fish out using my Cricut and then glued on the letters (that were also cut from my Cricut). Since Ethan was the birthday boy he needed to be the shark so I used the same shark image as I did on the door, enlarged it, and hung it using thread. It looked like it was swimming. The fish were hung with paper clips to look like hooks in their mouths.

I don't know where this idea came from but at the last minute (literally) I drew a shark onto a poster board. If you look closely at the bottom right you'll see all the swimmers. I cut out stick swimmers and wrote all the boys names on them. They played pin the swimmer in the sharks mouth.

For the gift bags, Amy wanted to make a cute tag. I hand drew a surf board and we cut them out of striped scrapbook paper. We had to make sure there was a shark bite out of them! I then made a stencil using my Cricut and we painted on the shark in the middle and wrote the kids names on the board. I thought that this could be something the boys might want to keep for a little while so we made them more permanent by laminating them and punching a scrap booking eyelet through them. We strung it using elastic thread so the boys could easily hook it to their backpacks if they wanted to. Amy did the cute bag.

Now here's where my involvement stops and you get to see the pure genius which is Amy and her husband, Jared. I'll tell you a little bit about what she did but full details are HERE at Amy's blog.

She made this cake. For reals. When regular people like me would have drawn a shark on a sheet cake, Amy took it to a whole other level.

Red velvet. Nothing says shark party like a whole bunch of gore! This girl thought of everything.

The day before she made these cupcakes for her sons class at school. It's basically a twinkie, and a cookie half. I tell you what these were not easy but come on, those are seriously the coolest cupcakes ever. EVER. She has more details HERE.

There was another party on the street that day so Jared cleverly put a shark fin on the mailbox with cardboard so the guests knew exactly which party they were looking for.

When the boys walked in they had to walk through sea weed.

Yes it's a shark watermelon. Yes those are Swedish fish in his mouth and yes this is amazing!

Jared made these killer plates. What a fun and simple detail. He cut a slit in the plate and stuck the fin through.

I didn't stick around for the party but I heard it was a hit and the boys left with some awesome shark stuff too!

Thanks Amy for letting me help out and thanks for being so amazing and inspiring!

__________________________________

Speech Therapy: Two Syllable Words

2011-07-13T06:00:00.002-05:00

Maggie is my 3 year old with Speech Delay, she's pretty far behind in her speech in comparison to most kids her age. She's in speech therapy and has been improving so much. She even has a few sentences here and there. Why just today she told me to, "Get in timeout now!" Lovely.

This weeks homework was to practice two syllable words. I think there was a legitimate term for what the words are exactly but I forgot. But basically words that are two syllables that go beyond "mama"/"dada" stuff.

I wanted to incorporate Maggie's favorite two syllable word into this one.

"Suh-pies!"

In case you couldn't tell that's "Surprise". She like to hide in plain sight, jump up and shout it at me.

I'm "suh-pised" every time. :)

We lift up the top of the present, say "surprise", ask "what is it?" and then practice saying the name of the picture. It's been a lot of fun and making a game out of it makes her want to keep going. Once all the pictures are out we then say "night night dirty", "night night teddy" "night night pony" and then put them all away.

How I did it:

I laminated a piece of blue paper. Separately I created a present the box and the lid out of scrapbook paper. I laminated each piece separately. I then used my sewing machine to sew around the 3 outer edges of the box to secure it to the blue paper, leaving the top open to store cards. I sewed the lid on around the bow. I also laminated each card. On the back of the cards I wrote the name of the picture and a breakdown of the sounds.

What a "suh-pies that two syllable words could be this much fun!

Personalized Glass Etched Bake Ware

2011-07-12T06:00:00.003-05:00

Remember yesterday when I showed you the handmade bag for a wedding present?

Well, here's what's inside:

Personalized Glass Etched Bake ware!

What a perfect way to welcome Rachel into the world of pot lucks! I'm sure they'll be attending a few over the years. Plus, we live in the south. If something doesn't have a monogram on it we don't want it. Haha.

I know it might be a little hard to tell what's what. I'm no professional photographer. After all, I take all my pictures with my iPod. There are 3 pieces of bake ware (9x13, 9x9 & loaf) and they go with the pear theme from the card I made.

The loaf pan has three pears on one sides and "Downs", Drew and Rachel's last name on the other.

The square pan has a pear and "Downs" on just one side.

The 9x13 has "The Downs Family" and two pears etched onto the bottom. The etching is on the outside of the pan.

Want to know how to make your own? It's really easy. I use my Cricut to cut out the images but you could use a variety of other ways including just a plain ol' exacto knife. Do what works for you.

Tutorial

Step 1: Cut out image onto cheap vinyl. (No need to waste the good stuff)

I use the cheap kind that you can buy for covering books. You can find it in the school supply section. I have a fabulous program for my Cricut called Sure Cuts A Lot. If you don't have this program you need to get it. You can cut out anything. And I mean anything with it. A picture from the Internet, a drawing you made, any font in your computer. Anything. I'm not paid to brag about Cricut or Sure Cuts A Lot I just really love them. The image above is what the program looks like. I line up what I want cut out in the program, press the cut button and my Cricut goes to town.

Step 2: Place your vinyl onto the glass and smooth out any bubbles.

Step 3: Generously apply Armour Etch (you can find this in any craft store for about $8) to the empty spaces of your vinyl. Let it sit according to the directions, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Step 4: Rinse off etching cream with water and remove vinyl.

All done!

Note: If you want to etch the bottom of the pan you'll need to flip the words of your vinyl backwards like in the picture above. There is a button on the Cricut to do this as well as in the Sure Cuts A Lot Program. If you do this, when you look down into the pan the words will be the correct way.

Bag, Bag, What's in the Handmade Bag??

2011-07-11T06:00:00.002-05:00

So, a few weeks ago we got to attend a wedding of an adorably wonderful couple, Drew and Rachel.

I made them a wedding gift and then realized about an hour before we were supposed to leave, that I didn't have a way to wrap it. It was just too big and nothing says tacky like Batman Christmas paper and gift bags that say "It's a Boy!". I was in trouble.

Solution - make your own bag.

This bag is made from white satin that I had gotten somehow for free and had plenty of. I created a bag with French Seams and Boxed Corners. For the tie, I used a piece of ribbon from my stash and sewed it to a small section near the top of the bag to secure it from slipping off. It was super easy to make and reusable. Now they can use it to re gift at the next wedding they go to.

Want to know what's inside??? Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow's post (no snitching if you know).

Here's a clue with the card I made -

Yeah. I totally went there. I was laughing about my "punny card" and my husband just shook his head at me in shame. I know he was secretly laughing inside but was just too proud to admit it. He he, pear.... sigh....

Don't forget to come back tomorrow to see the gift and a tutorial on how to make your own!