Oh how I love Halloween decorations!

My newest Halloween decoration...

A little vinyl on a picture frame.   So easy!

Happy decorating everyone!

Noodle Fun!

The other day my son wanted to play with glue. 

So I pulled out some dry noodles... and we played with glue!

We even got out the water colors and added some color to our creations.

Fun and cheap!  Gotta love it.

Fall wreath

Fall is my favorite season... hands down.  I just wish it lasted longer!

A few years ago, I made this wreath.  It was SO easy!

I bought a wreath from a local craft store, along with a strand or two of fall leaves.

Wrapped the leaves all around the wreath, added a bow and there was my festive wreath.

I added auburn lights to my wreath.

(wrap the lights first and then the leaves)

I love plugging it in at night.  The glow is fabulous!

Movies while running?

And in case you wanted to watch a movie while running on the treadmill...

I made a holder for that too.  

I haven't tested this one out yet... so we'll see if it holds up while running.

Off subject... I'm a terrible runner.  Any tips for me?

iPod case for treadmill...

My husband and I have started running on a treadmill... which is great.

The problem comes when we put the treadmill in our unfinished part of the basement... no TV.

So we listen to the iPod... but where to put it?

I made this iPod holder for it.  Velcro on the back, so it holds nice and tight.

I had to make a hole at the bottom, so the earphones can disconnect, if we happen to get our arm caught in the wire.

I tried it today... works great!

Father's Day gift idea

Ok, so I'm just a few months late at posting this idea.  But everyone takes the summer off, right? 

Thanks for putting up with us... if you're still out there.  ;)

My boys had a great time making this art piece for Father's Day this past year. 

(I have seen this idea on another blog... but can't remember where... so sorry that I don't have that reference for you)

I had my 4 year old paint the blue background one day.  I just told him that we were painting and set him up with the right colors.  (last year he ended up telling Daddy what the present was before Father's day... I learned my lesson)  Then I put it up to dry and let him continue to paint on paper.  

A few days later I did their hand prints.  A one year old makes it REALLY difficult to get a decent handprint from.  Thus, his looks like he has 6 fingers.  Oh well.  Then I put it up to dry for a few more days.

I took it down to add the finishing touches.  

Then I let the boys help me wrap it right before we gave it to Daddy. 

Jedi Robe

My son loves those hooded bath towels.  And he loves Star Wars. 

So I made him a 'Jedi Robe'.... and he LOVES that too!

(I apologize for the sideways picture, Blogger and I are not getting along today)

I found pictures of an Imperial Walker, the Death Star and R2D2 (at my son's request)... 

cut them out of a cheap white fleece blanket from IKEA that was being ignored in my home and sewed them on the towel.

The hood is a hand towel - cut in half and then sewn on.

Here is my son trying his best to ignore the camera.

He really does love his Jedi Robe.  He wears it even when it's not bath time.

I wonder what type of robe I'll make next... fire fighter?  dinosaur?  pirate?  astronaut?  

The possibilities are endless.  Give it a try.  Your kids will LOVE it!

High Chair Straps

 My mom has this darling high chair.  But it has no straps.  

When ever we go over there, we've just used a belt to keep the kiddos strapped in.

The problem with that is they slide out the bottom.

So I found a solution...

 

 I measured the high chair and cut out the material to fit over the top.

Then I sewed two really long strips of material that would come from behind the chair, go under my baby's bum, up between his legs and tie in the back.  

(Did that make sense?  I can draw a diagram if anyone is interested.)

It works perfect!  When it's dirty, throw it in the wash.

Denim!

I have a super crafty friend, Carolyn.  She made all of these bags/purses out of old jeans.

Aren't they darling?!  LOVE them!

They inspired me to create something out of my old denim...

So I started cutting.  (I"m not big on patterns... I tried to make a pattern, 

but it wasn't working... so I just started creating)

I decided on a cute pirate lining.  My boys love it!

And now I have a new diaper bag!

I should have taken more pictures... but it's hard to photograph the inside of a bag.

There are pockets on both of the outside panels.  Pockets on the inside.

A zipper pouch in the middle - as a dividing section of the bag.

And I sewed in elastic loops to hold sippy cups or bottles.

It was fun to create something new out of something that would 

usually be thrown out or sent off to the local DI.

Thanks for the inspiration Carolyn! 

Fun, easy activity for kids

My son and I made this with a some pipe cleaners a few eyes.

It's a bunny and a turtle... I case you're wondering.  ;)

Cheap entertainment... that's what it's all about some days!

Easter Countdown

A little late for this Easter... but maybe you can do this next year.

My son loves holiday countdowns.
I did a Google Images search and found some Easter Eggs to color.
We cut them out and taped them together.
So easy!

S-P-R-I-N-G

I had a lot of fun working on this project and plan on doing more for other holidays.

1. go to a hardware store, have some wood blocks cut, sand edges
2. stain your wood blocks
   
3. choose background paper for each block
   
4. mod podge paper on to individual blocks
   
5. sand the edges again so the paper smoothly blends in to the wood
6. cut out letters and mod podge on (i used my cricut, but you can buy lettering at a craft store)
7. embellish as you please!
   

Easter tulips

I found this idea from here. I thought it was really cute and easy and I knew I couldn't kill these flowers oh and I had all the supplies at my house.

I found some matching spring scrapbook paper in my stash, traced the template and cut out the flowers. Glued them on to my skewers (I wrapped mine with floral tape) I bought these metal baskets last year from Tai Pan, so I stuck some styrofoam in the bottom and arranged my tulips. I had planned on putting some green Easter grass inside but can't find where I put it- so that will be added later.

Oh look who found a home finally, my Easter mickey antenna ball!
(our cars antenna is too big so I try and find different places to put them) I think he'll stay here for a while

Now I'm off to find the green grass- I hate when the Easter bunny shops early!!!

Minnie t-shirts

We just returned from a family trip to Disneyland. We LOVE Disney (a lot)! My nieces hadn't been in a few years so I thought I would do something special for them and my daughter to wear to the park. It was so simple, and they got a ton of compliments (and a TON cheaper than buying shirts in the park)

I found some coordinating fabrics (thanks to Walmart), cut a mickey head shape out of each fabric then ironed it on to some wonder under (fusible fabric). Then ironed them on to the t-shirts. Made a simple bow and hand stitched them on to the shirts and added a button in the middle. I think each shirt might have cost me $6.00 each to make!!

Look how HAPPY and CUTE they are wearing their shirts!

Simple wall decor

I saw this idea months ago, on several blogs.
I decided it was perfect for one of my many empty walls.

I found a font that I liked, printed the letter H as my template, cut the fabric and done!
So easy.




P.S. As a side note... the blog will probably be a 'work in progress' for some time. It's proving to be very difficult to work through the html code while juggling the kiddos.
Someday it will be done... someday. ;)

Fire Truck Birthday Party

My baby just turned 1. (where does the time go?!)
We had a fire truck themed party.

I made this banner in Photoshop, printed it out on card stock,
strung it together with thread, and taped it onto candy sucker sticks.
I love how it turned out!

The cupcake toppers were created in Photoshop, printed on card stock and taped onto candy sucker sticks. So easy and a perfect way to dress up a cupcake.

Quick Valentine Craft

This craft came from Martha Stewart...


So easy and you probably have the paper already!
Heart template can be found here.

Children's Song Book

I made 2 books for my son today.

The first one is a combination Quiet Book & Song Book...

The cover page just has his name on it with velcro letters that he can take off and put back on.

I only have 2 songs in this book so far... I'll add to it later.
I altered clipart that I found, laminated everything and stuck some velcro on it.

The other song in the book is a song that he is learning in Primary this month.
(This is a great flip chart for the song as well)

The next book that I made is just for songs that he will be
learning throughout the year in Primary.I found the pages here and here.
Then I shrunk them in Photoshop so they would fit two on a page.
Laminated them, cut them and bound them with ribbon.
So easy!

Super Easy Scarf

I'm posting this one for my Crafty Mom...

She bought this blanket from IKEA.
It has a cute decorative edge and was only $3.49.

Cut the blanket length wise into about 5-6 inch strips.
Then cut a slit into one side of it like this:

Then you can put it around your neck and slide one end through the slit and voila! a fun scarf!
She was able to get several scarfs out of the $3.49 blanket...
no sewing involved!

Love it!
So creative Mom!

My Crafty Frames!

Tada they are done!

Here is the grouping I finally decided on, hung up on my wall. I am so not good at mathmatics and trying to get this perfectly straight. (that's my moms job, but we just moved away from her so I had to do this on my own) So I just measured the middle three over the center of our bed and the rest I just went for it and hoped it would look ok when I took a step back to look at it. It's not perfect but I am pleased.

My 2 year old thinks it all looks straight, so I am going with her opinion!! Here's the whole wall with my sconces (bought on clearance years ago from Michaels) and my IKEA candles with a newly tied ribbon around it to tie in the accent color- green.
I think I LOVE it!