The Doggie Princess

"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.

So Grateful Sunday: Ammonite Necklace from My Brother, Collin

I decided to start a new Sunday series called So Grateful Sunday.

So Grateful Sunday will feature something someone has made for me.  It's my chance to show off the great handmade stuff I've been given and reflect on how much I love the givers.  I'm surrounded by so many wonderful, talented people who inspire me  I hope they can inspire you too.

______________________

My first So Grateful Sunday is about my brother, Collin.  Collin is 4 years younger than me (he has a twin, Ian) and is one of the most generous people that I know.  When I was in college he heard I didn't have a DVD player so he bought me one.  I once mentioned that I like the old school Nintendo games so he scoured thrift stores until he found me one.  He's so thoughtful.  He's always giving, and I tell you what, no one spoils my kids like Uncle Collin.

Collin works as an Explosives Ordinance Specialist for the US Army and served for over a year in Iraq.  He makes our country proud and our family proud.  He's a great guy. 

Oh yeah and did I mention he's totaly cute?  And single?  He's also a homeowner, has great investment skills, he's funny, smart and he even has read Twilight (thanks Collin, for letting me talk your ear off about whether it would be cooler to be a vampire or a werewolf).  How great is he?  Ladies, if you live in Washington and are looking for an excellent man, here here is.

Okay, enough pimping out my brother.  Let's get to what he made me -

For my birthday this year Collin made me a necklace.  Amanda, Ian's girlfriend, used to work at a place called Shipwreck Beads.  Collin went to visit one day and went nuts buying beads. 

He used heavy black and dark green stones as the main part of the necklace and for the main piece he got this beautiful Ammontie, wrapped in silver.  I majored in Geology in college which makes this even more thoughtful and special.

He didn't just stop with the necklace, he also made me a pair of earings with the black beads. 

 I forgot to take a picture though.  Oops.

This was his first jewelry making experience but I have to say, he did an excellent and professional job. 

It's a necklace I will treasure forever.

Thanks Collin!

Camp Craft Series: Headbands with Interchangable Bows

We wanted the girls to feel as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside so we decided to make hair accessories.  These are super popular right now in stores, plus, the young women have been begging to learn how to make them.

 I showed each girl how to make the loop for the headband but I left the bow making mostly up to them.  If I could do it over and if I had the man power to watch over the rest of the crafts I would have sat down and done just bows and flovers with the girls.  There are so many ways to make these that I'm not going to do a tutorial for every kind of flower I know how to make but there are excellent tutorials HERE and HERE at my friend Elizabeth's blog, The Moonlit Nest, and also a great one HERE at her friend's blog Sewing in No Man's Land.  Those should keep you busy for a while.

As you can see from these pictures, the girls did great on their own!  SO gorgeous!

Supplies:

We had on hand the following items.  There was lots left over but hopefully the Young Women can find something to do with all of it.  If not I sure know I can!  Ha ha. 

• Clear plastic gems (pack of 1,500 in assorted sizes from Hobby Lobby)
• Buttons (miscellaneous button pack $5.99 at Joann's)
• Plastic pearls (2 packs at 350 pearls per pack from Hobby Lobby)
• Felt in various colors
• Tule in various colors
• Some sort of poly-satin in various colors
• Metal headbands (Purchased from Korean seller on Ebay, excellent price, less than .40 cents each.
• Skinny metal aligator clips (found at Sally's Beauty supply in packs of 100)
• Lots and lots of ribbon (found in ribbon remnant packs you can read more about these packs HERE at my old money saving blog)

TUTORIAL:

You will need one head band, a small piece of ribbon, and clips.

Step 1:  Attach ribbon to the inside of headband using hot glue.

Step 2:  Wrap ribbon tightly around headband once and secure with more hot glue.

Step 3:  Wrap ribbon around one more time but leave a small loop (just enough to slide a clip through.  Glue ribbon end to inside of headband and trim off excess ribbon.

See the loop?

Now you can just slip in any clip and hair bow that you'd like.  The possibilities are endless.

If you missed them, make sure you check out the other crafts in the series

Friendship Bracelets

Locker Magnets

Wooden Frames

Personalized Washer Necklaces

A be sure to come back for the last two days in the series

Thursday - Journals

Friday - Good Deed Tree

Camp Craft Series: Personalized Washer Necklaces

If you're wondering what the most popular craft we did at girls camp this year, wonder no more.  This was it.  We bought extra washers and we ran out.  I hated to tell the girls that there were no more.  If we ever do this craft again I'm buying at least twice the amout we need, if not more.  Sharon, the camp director, came up with this craft and I'm so glad she did, it was a hit!

All of these pictures are of necklaces the girls created.  Including the ones above.  I loved to see what the girls wanted to stamp into them and the beautiful prints that they chose.  Some even found unique and interesting ways to tie them.  I loved them all.

TUTORIAL:

Supplies:

• Stamping set (found HERE at Harbor Freight)
• Hammer
• Small washer
• Large washer
• Scrap of paper
• Mod Podge
• Paint or permanent marker
• Jewelry cord*

*We purchased multi-colored packs of cord from Joann's jewelry section for about $8 a pack.  I'm unable to locate a link to the exact item but they carry a nice variety of cording and you should be able to find what you need in the store. 

Step 1:  Stamp your personalized words onto small washer.  Hold the stamp steady and hammer into washer.

Step 2: Fill in stamped image with paint or permanent marker.  This will help image stand out more.  Wipe away excess paint or ink.  A baby wipe works best to do this.

Step 3:  Take large washer and trace onto a piece of paper.  Cut out the circle.

Step 4: Apply a thin, even layer of Mod Podge to one side of large washer.

Step 5:  Place paper cut out onto large washer and smooth out.  Apply an even coat of Mod Podge over the top.  Let dry.

Step 6:  Tie the whole thing together with cord or ribbon.



Simple right!?!  And just to show you how clever, creative and talented these girls are, check out this stunning washer.  This was done by wrapping the embroidery floss from the friendship bracelets around the washer.  To secure it they tied the ends in knots on the back side.  All of these girls are brilliant.



If you missed them, be sure to check out the other tutorials in the series

Friendship Bracelets

Locker Magnets

Wooden Frames

Be sure to come back tomorrow for

Headbands with Interchangeable Flowers

Camp Craft Series: Friendship Bracelets

Hey y'all!  I missed you.  I've been busy at girls camp.  What's girls camp?  Every year all of the girls from our Church, (all over the world) ages 12-18 get together and go camping.  They hike, practice survival skills, learn and grow spiritually and just have fun.  It's the best (and this is coming from a non-camper)!  This year I was asked to be the craft lady.  I have been working with my amazing co-craft lady, Natalie, for months on the crafts.

To save others the time it took for us to put these together, I'm including all the details on each craft, supplies, websites, tutorials, etc. as well as show off creative examples from the girls. 

We planned for crafts for about 100 people (girls and leaders).

____________________________________

I'm starting off the series simple with

Friendship Bracelets

   

We all remember friendship bracelets.  They're the best. 

Did you know that there is an on-line community of friendship bracleteers? 

(Totally just made up that word.) 

If you go to Friendship-Bracelets.net you can get TONS of pretty amazing patterns and instructions for thousands of different kids of bracelets.  Some of them are pretty incredible.  You can also upload pictures of the bracelets or patterns you've made to share with the community.  Definitely worth checking out.

We knew that there would be girls who had made Friendship Bracelets before so we didn't provide them with many instructions.  We did have a book available that we got from a closet at the Church with instructions, but I don't think it was used much.

Supplies

• Embroidery Floss
• Duct or Masking Tape (to hold bracelet in place on table)
• Safety Pins (to hold bracelet in place on jeans)
• Key rings (optional)

 We bought two packs of this big pack of embroidery floss from Hobby Lobby for $19.99 each.  We only ended up using one.  The craft was very popular but 150 bunches goes a long way.

This giant knot of thread was all that was left of the pack at the end of the week.  We also had several safety pins left over as well as key rings.  The pins and rings were purchased at The Dollar Tree.

This was a very popular and inexpensive craft and we are saving the other package for the girls to do next year.  A must have for any camp.

Check out the rest of the Camp Crafts HERE!

Mother's Day Personalized Washer Necklace

I love my kids.  I love being a mom.  I want everyone to know it.

I wore this proudly on Mother's Day.

How I did it -  You take hardware stamps and simply hammer whatever you want to say into a typical everyday washer.  You can buy these stamps at almost any hardware store but I've also seen them on Etsy and other places around the web.  The original intent for these stamps is to hammer your name on your tools so the neighbor has to retun them. 

I started to write the kids names on the bigger washer but I messed up pretty badly on the lettering.  Did I throw it away?  No.  Of course not.  I fixed it.  I covered the washer with mod podge and several layers of tissue paper in my favorite color.  I tied the cord around the big washer and then used Gorilla glue to attach the small washer.  To make the letters pop I used a permanent marker to fill in the crevaces, making sure to wipe of any eccess.

Now go make your own!  It will seriously take you less than 10 minutes to do.