Upcycle dress

Upcycle Dress 

inspired by: I Am Momma Hear Me Roar

Ever since I saw this Upcycled dress by I Am Momma Hear Me Roar I was just dying to try it. I'm not the most professional sewer out there, learning as I go, so honestly this project turned out to be perfect for me!

I gathered all the old t-shirts in my house...I had to buy 1 for the top because I didn't have one that would fit my niece (I was making the dress for her for Christmas). Got some fabric paint and fabric pens, then got busy on my color scheme and design. I found an iron-on that I must've bought a while back and tossed in the drawer that says "Eco-fashionista" so it couldn't of been more perfect for this project. A little t-shirt flower rosette, hot-glued to some felt with a safety pin so it can be removed and it was done! 

I'll be honest, my only huge fear was the A-line cut....there wasn't too much to go off of on the post, so I had to make my own "executive" decisions. I just sewed them all together in a straight line, then I sewed the sides on an A-line and cut off the excess......heres to hoping it makes it through the wash! :) Regardless it was a hit on Christmas morning and I hope to make another one for my daughter soon, it was so simple.

Here's one showing the close-up of the iron-on and the rosette flower

and heres the last with the details on the "outside" stitch

Hope you have fun if you decide to make one, it was really quick and easy!

Holiday Card Holder: Tutorial

I had been searching for a Christmas card holder that would fit on a skinny wall in my house.  After having no luck at finding anything, I decided to make my own!  Even though a holiday decorating show on HGTV said that it is not necessary to display all of your Christmas cards, I really like to so I went to work and here's what I came up with...

It wasn't difficult...just took a little time (a little more for me since I ended up making two).  All you need is:

-Window/door casing (got mine at Home Depot and had it cut to 3.5 feet).  I chose the fluted casing to make it look a little more fancy :).  It comes white, but I had already painted mine black in the picture.

-Black satin spray paint

-Clothes pins (I used 25 on each holder)

-Decorative piece for the top (I used a wooden snowflake ornament from Hobby Lobby)

-Spray adhesive

-White craft paint & brush

-White glitter

-E-6000 glue

-Ribbon

-Picture hanger (I used sawtooth ones from Home Depot)

Here's how to do it:
1. Spray paint the casing and clothes pins black.
2. Paint snowflake white and use spray adhesive to add glitter.
3. Attach the picture hanger to the back of the casing (top).

4. Attach snowflake (or whatever decoration you choose) to the top of the casing (front) using E-6000 glue.

5. Space out the clothes pins down the front of the casing.  Mine are about 1 1/8" apart but you can add more space if you don't want your cards to overlap as much.  I also alternated the clips in a pattern...right, left center, right, left center, etc...Attach with E-6000 glue.

6. Then tie some ribbon around the top and you're done!

And here it is with a few cards...

I'm happy with how it turned out...and now I don't have to pull out the scotch tape every day to put new cards up!

Rudolph Pops

RUDOLPH POPS

I recently volunteered to bring in a sweet treat for my son's class so I decided to do a version of these adorable reindeer cake pops I saw on Bakerella... http://www.bakerella.com/its-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like-christmas/.  During Halloween, I made Oreo mummy pops so I thought it would be best to stick with Oreos since I have never made cake pops before.  I think they turned out just as cute and they were a huge hit with the kids...although it doesn't take much to please a group of 4 year olds!  

I USED:

1 pack of Double Stuffed Oreos

1 pack of chocolate melts

candy eyeballs

red M&M's

mini pretzels (broken in half)

gourmet writer pen

lollipop sticks

wax paper

HERE'S HOW:

-I melted the chocolate on 'defrost' mode in the microwave...stirring every 30 seconds until creamy.  

-Dip the tip of the lollipop stick into the chocolate and then VERY gently push it into the middle of the Oreo cream...set aside until hardened (I actually put the Oreos in the microwave for a few seconds to soften the cream, which made it easier to poke the stick in without breaking the cookie).

-Once hardened, dip the Oreo into the melted chocolate and spoon the chocolate over the cookie until completely covered...set on wax paper.

-Put eyes and nose on.  

-While holding the stick, insert the pretzels into the top of the Oreo (it works best if you can get the pretzel between the cookies and into the cream...I also found that the pretzels stayed in place better if I let the chocolate 'set' a few minutes before I put the antlers on). 

-Once the chocolate has hardened, use the gourmet writer to draw a mouth.

Pretty easy...just takes a little patience!  Maybe next time I will try doing cake pops :).

I also made this handy pop holder.  I just glued foam inside of a shoebox, wrapped the box with wrapping paper and then poked holes in the top using my meat thermometer (yes, very sophisticated).  And the great thing is that you can reuse the box for any occasion by just changing the paper!

HoHoHo Banner

Ho Ho Ho Banner

Here's a little banner I made for Christmas....it was so easy, the only lengthy party of the whole process is designing it out. Once that is done, its just assembly. 

I just used cardstock, my cricut, stickles, hot glue, jute and decorated some clothes pins with ribbon. 

Oh yeah........AND BUTTONS!!! Can't forget the buttons!

Christmas (or anytime) Skirt

One thing I really love is sewing girlie things...mixing different fabrics and trying new designs.  I especially like making seasonal stuff because the fabrics are so fun and colorful!  Here is the 3 layer ruffle skirt I made for Lauren's daughter this year (who also happens to be my God-daughter).  I wanted it to look holiday-ish so I chose fabrics with red, green and white, but  what I love is that it can be worn anytime since the patterns don't scream 'Christmas'.  You just can't go wrong with stripes and polka dots for a little girl!

I am also very indecisive when it comes to picking fabric so the patchworky design allows me to use them ALL :).  

Chocolate peanut butter candies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Candy

All I can say is YUUUUUUMMMMMMMYYYYYYY. I got this recipe from my Grandma when I was a little girl. Every Christmas I remember her making them and it was something I looked forward to. As a little girl I was able to help her because they are so easy and impossible to mess up! Some people might call them Buckeyes...but I just call them Grandma Leal's Peanut Butter candy. She's since passed on earlier this year, so these candies are even more special to me now. 

Ingredients:

2 large Hershey chocolate bars (if you want a thicker layer of chocolate use 3 or even 4!)

1 large jar of peanut butter (any brand, flavor, crunchy, smooth, whatever you want)

1 stick of butter

1 box (1lb) powdered sugar

Melt the butter and peanut butter in a sauce pan over a medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Take off the stove and pour into a bowl, add powdered sugar, stir gently (otherwise you will powder your WHOLE counter and yourself!), once somewhat mixed in, start kneeding with your hands....its much easier! Then spread into the bottom of a casserole dish. Next take your chocolate bars, break apart and put in a double boiler or anyway you choose to melt the chocolate. Once melted pour evenly over the peanut butter mixture and smooth. Pop in the fridge and in about 2hrs you have some delicious, easy, candy that will keep people talking about it for years and wanting more!

You can add more chocolate to thicken up the layer, I prefer it like this

See the huge amount it makes??? Easy AND Economical

~~~Happy Baking...or chillin' in this case~~~

Merry Mantle

Merry Mantle

Since Lauren and I have been busy doing Christmas crafts, I thought it would be fun to incorporate a few of the things we've been making into my mantle decor this year.  Here's how it turned out...

My favorite pieces are the ruffle and rolled rosette trees that we originally saw on the Shanty 2 Chic blog shown here http://shanty2chic.blogspot.com/2010/11/burlap-and-drop-cloth-and-ticking-oh-my.html.  Their post also has a great link for the rosette tutorial.  We loved the trees and had to try our own version of them.  I set mine on top of these cute whimsical pots I found at Michael's last year on clearance for $1.50...score!  In the center I used a snowman I made out of 2x4 pieces of wood inspired by a cute one we saw at Under My Umbrella http://undermypolkadotumbrella.blogspot.com/search/label/snowman.   The wreath on the end is the same one that we made for the fall craft fair (earlier post)....strips of burlap tied around a ring with mod podge wood letters and a bow.  Then I just filled in the gaps with random ball ornaments (mostly from the Target dollar bins) and whoooaallllaaa...a crafty Christmas mantle!

Hope your mantle is MERRY :)!

Giveaway...Wendi Solari Designs.....Don't miss this!!!!!

Wendi Solari Designs is having a giveaway just in time for the holidays.  The winner will choose their favorite piece of jewelry from her shop, all are customizable. Take a look at her designs at Wendi Solari Designs and go to the shop button.

Go over to Beso Handbags to enter this giveaway!