Non-Slip Elastic Glitter Headbands

I opened an Etsy Store! Check it Out!

Zebra Duct Tape Flowers

 These were so easy to make. I got the zebra Duct Tape the other day at Walmart, they have so many cute colors and prints at such a good price and I had the Teal Duct Tape already. I was just playing around to see what I could do with these two colors. I don't think that the all Zebra flower turned out, there is just not enough definition. I have worn the all teal one in my hair and have gotten so many compliments.

 I'm going to get some other colors and make some more, maybe even a purse. I made a cute purse for my little girl today and will have to post it. I would love to make a bigger one for myself with some of these flowers on it but maybe bigger.

If you would like to buy these, head on over to my Etsy shop
https://www.etsy.com/listing/104453173/lot-of-23-different-handmade-flowers-for

Tribal Maxi Dress

My version of a Maxi Dress.
I bought this fabric at clearance (again) at Joann's for 3 dollars a yard and again, had no idea what I would do with it. I thought it would make some kind of dress and this was it. I was hard to get the draping right in the front. At first I gathered it but it was way too baggy, so then I thought..pleats. and it flattened it enough so I didn't feel pregnant. I made the bodice without the white gathering first, but it was just too much print, it needed to be broken up. So I added the white, but it took a lot of messing with to get everything to lay right. I still don't love the cups of the bodice, they are just too full for my girls but I will figure it out. I love the back shoulder straps, they add just enough to be different.



The shoulder strap. Love the gather.



Full and Frilly Fabric Flowers

Oh, how I love flowers and these are just so cute and I haven't seen anything like them.

I found the idea on the best blog, Make it and Love it, she has so many fun ideas and tutorials.

 http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2011/08/full-and-textured-fabric-flowers.html 

So I tried it on the only solid fabric that I had lying around (from my son's John Stockon costume) and whipped it up real quick, I mean quick. They were so fast and easy.

I cut out 30-40 circles without trying to be neat and perfect--I just did one base circle from grey felt, then folded the fabric over so I had about 4 layers and cut the circles. After folding them (the circle) into in on it's self into triangles, I started sewing them on. I did a base layer only sewing the tips of the triangle and then added the next layer and the next. The middle I had to sew on by hand but I think each flower only took about 10 minutes! I am going to make a bunch more, maybe try some printed fabric.
If you would like to buy these, head on over to my Etsy shop
https://www.etsy.com/listing/104453173/lot-of-23-different-handmade-flowers-for

Hot Pink Apron with Duct Tape Flower

 I made this apron for my new sister-in-laws shower. I took the idea from one of my earlier aprons, the greenish Retro one, because I thought the fabric matched the Retro feel. I used just one package of bias tape for this one.
I love the way it turned out, and I think what really makes it is the Duct Tape flower. I'm going to do a post about how to make them soon, they are so easy and fast. I really love them and their are so many colors of duct tape now, so fun.
The picture is a little weird--like all my photos--because it was time to go to the shower and I almost wrapped it without the picture, so I told my son to hurry and take a picture before I left. Maybe I should start making gifts ahead so that I'm not finishing as I walk out the door ;) 


Don't you LOVE the fabric?




Close up of the Duct Tape flower.



Back to School Wreath

I needed something fun for that time of year with no real holiday--if you don't include back to school---and when I found this I knew it was perfect.

I found the link on Tip Junkie and it was so easy! 

http://momspartycafe.blogspot.com/2010/06/teacher-giftscontinuedcrayon-wreaths.html

 I did mine just a little smaller than on the tutorial because I couldn't find the right size hoops.

So here is it:

-You will need 2 embroidery hoops large--I don't know what size mine are, sorry--just the size that crayons will fit on. I wish that I would've done a bigger hoop, but oh well. 

-2 packs of 24 crayons (.40 each)

-Glue gun

-Measuring tape rope or ribbon

Then I laid out the crayons to know where the ends needed to be. Once I had it the way I wanted, I glued it all on and attached the ribbon.  So easy and cute.



Blue Dress



Don't mind the knee brace, I forgot to take it off before the photo.



So this is one of the things I have been working on lately instead of blogging, and I LOVE it. I bought this fabric for about 2$ a yard at Joann's on clearance along with some white knit, also on clearance and didn't quite know what I wanted to do with it, until...inspiration struck in the oddest way.

I bought a swimsuit cover up from TJ Max (love that store!) and it was just cute and white, very basic. But on wearing it I thought that changed just a bit, it would make a cute dress. Then I saw a photo of Kate Middleton, who by the way has the best style I wish I had her wardrobe! I can't find the picture online, but she was wearing this cute white dress that was kind of cinched in the middle like I have this dress.

I just had to show the swimsuit cover, I know it's a bad picture.

So I took my cover up and traced it onto a piece of wrapping paper, but made it a little longer. The cover up has arms, but I just wanted the little capped sleeves, so I left off the sleeves. Then I cut an under-dress out of the white knit I had, so easy, then cut the sheer material. I made a sheath about 3 inches thick to hold the tie at the waist, sewed it in and then made a "rope" from a thin piece of fabric. I sewed the "sheath" in about 4 inches lower than my real waist because I wanted the little poof when it was ties. Then looking at it I thought that ruffles would make it just perfect, and it did! The ruffles took a bit to get right, they were just so heavy compared to the sheer fabric and the knit that they kept pulling and hanging weird. I think I had to sew them down about 3 times to get it right.

I really love this dress. It is SO comfortable and I look stylish at the same time. My little brother just got married and I wore this dress to the wedding and my sister had on a dress that was a lot like it, but she paid almost a hundred dollars for hers (haha).

Our Backyard Chickens

Ashley and Beatrix

We started the wonderful experiment this spring of raising chickens for eggs. I thought, I would really like to have organic eggs without the cost...so enter our fabulous chicks. I researched which ones would be good for all of us for the amount of eggs and the temperament I wanted. I chose Red and Black Star, Wyandotte, and Americana. They were so cute, sweet, and tiny when we first got them. It was so fun to pick them out and have them in our family room watching them grow everyday! The kids really loved them, picking them up and caring for them.

Our little chicks at about week old. They were so little all five could fit in a aquarium

Our chickens are really so much fun, more than I thought they would be. Even if they didn't lay eggs I would still have them because they entertain my family so much. I love looking out my kitchen window and see my silly chicks running around the yard. They started laying about 3 weeks ago and now we are getting 4-5 eggs a day.
I never thought that chickens would have such personality and a complex hierarchy system. There is a definite Queen of the Coop, Bellatrix LeStrange. A bossy enforcer, Diamond. The "muscle", Bear Grill. The scout, ChewBalka. And the low man on the totem pole, my poor little chick, Darcy.
I love just watching them live out their little chicken lives, each one knowing where they stand. Every time I go outside, if their out, the come running toward me and follow me around underfoot as I do my weeding and things. It's a little creepy because it's not like a little dog, you never know what they are really going to do; peck your toes or try to eat your ring.  The other day I had my fingernails painted black and Bear tried pecking them every time I was out.
My husband calls me Mother Hen because I sit in the yard and they flock around me letting me pet them, making their little clucking and cooing noises. Love my chicks and my next post will have to be about the awesome house we made for them.



Bear Gryll

Darcy

Diamond

ChewBalka



Diamond at about 2 months







Ashley and Diamond. This chicken would let her do whatever she wanted. She would drive her around the yard in this bike and Diamond would just sit and almost seemed to like it. Ashley called her the circus chicken and tried to teach her all kinds of "tricks"

 

"What?!"

Nursing Cover

A close up of the top. You can see the D-ring and the boning. Don't you just LOVE this fabric.

Cupcake Cover

This is my version of the Hooter Hider. My wonderful sister-in-law just had a cute baby girl!! I was sitting with her while she was nursing the other day and she had a cover up, but she said that she felt like it was a bib more than a cover up. I took that as a hint, and made her one that would cover everything even with her other boys pulling at it.

I just love the fabric, she has 4 boys so she needed something girly. I got about a yard and a half, way more than I needed but it was the last on the bolt so I got a deal ;) I folded a square, cut it out and sewed the edges under. Then I cut a length of fabric about 24 inches long and about 5 inches wide. I folded it over, sewed it, then turned it right-side out. I put a 12 inch piece of boning in at the "top" and sewed a hem over it. I stitched it in place so it would have the bend to see the little baby. I sewed the strap on one side of the boning and then made a loop, put a D-ring on, then attached that on the other side of the boning. It was a little bigger than I thought it would be, but the bigger the better, right? I love these so much and wish they had been around when I had my kids. The other thing I love is that they aren't lined, it's only one piece of fabric so you and your little one won't get too hot while trying to feed.

Look how big it turned out! Nothing will pop out with this Cupcake cover.

Fixing Tent Zipper with Velcro

 This weekend we went camping to Bryce Canyon. Last camping trip our tents zipper broke, so I had to figure something out. The tent is only a year and a half old and we have really liked it. We got it at Kmart for about 150$ and it has been really good for our family. There is lots of room, it is really easy to set up, and makes it through the weather without leaking. We have even had it in a foot of snow and it was good. So being cheap like I am, when the zipper broke I was determined to fix it and not have to buy another tent. Every tent we buy the zipper is the only thing that goes wrong, people have told us that maybe we are too hard on the zippers, but I think that the kind of tents we buy aren't really meant for the amount of camping we do.

So I bought 6 feet of fabric Velcro from walmart for about $6.00, put my sewing machine in my garage, and started pinning on the Velcro.

 I cut the velcro into about 4-6 inch strips and pinned it to both sides of the door. The reason I didn't do the whole 6 feet in one long strip is because I thought that if one part of the velcro started to open, the weight would pull open the whole door. Once they were all pinned I started sewing. I sewed each piece around all the edges with a straight stitch, I did a couple with a zig-zag stitches but it made the velcro not quite as effective. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it saved me $150!



The Velcro before it was sewing on.



 I was a little worried that it wouldn't hold up to my families in-and-out for 4 days, but it did AWESOME! I like it better than the zipper. It is easier for everyone to open and close, and we had no issues of the side of the tent getting stuck in the zipper. It wasn't that windy at Bryce, but I think it will hold up to most weather. We had a small sprinkle and there wasn't even a drip of water in. It worked just as good as the zipper, I think. I have a few other tents that I think I will have to change over to velcro.


The finished door. Even the campground at Bryce is pretty.





See how well it closes.



Funny little side note. I was in the garage sewing (which was weird enough) and I had the door into the backyard open to cool down a little. Soon enough, my little flock of chicks had made it in to hang with me! I sat for an hour with my 5 chicks sitting around me, they were sitting on the floor and would look up at me occasionally making their cute little cooing nosies. It was the weirdest sewing experience I have ever had.

Colonial Williamsburg and Beautiful Virginia

So, I know that this is not a craft, but I just have to post about my recent trip to the beautiful state of Virginia. From the moment I stepped out of the airport I loved it and it is one of the few places that I could imagine living, something this desert girl never thought would happen in such a flat, moist place. I went with my folks and we did the whole Historic Triangle: Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown. It was so nice, I learned so much about America and it's foundation. I Thought I would share a few of my favorite photo's, so bear with me....it is vacations pictures (dun, dun, dun)

This was the first bathroom we saw, and I thought it was just too funny.

The beautiful and fragrant Magnolia, my new favorite flower. I wish they would grow here.

The folks in silly hats. I think this is one of my favorite pics.

The crest of England. I had no idea that they had a Unicorn on their crest! I was walking along, looked up and thought "nice horse....wait! that horse has a horn! It's a unicorn!"



The gardens at the "Palace".




The Magnolia tree that want in my yard. My silly dad made me pose, showing the flowers off.




The garden that I want. This is a herb garden! I wish that I could get my poor garden to look even half like this.




On the Palace Green



My dad. He and I pretended to get impaled on the spikes. I think he really looks dead. This is where I get my weirdness from. There was a big crowd of people off to the side and I'm sure they thought we were crazy...or really cool and wishing they could act dead too.

A 200+ year old Oak. I took this pic on the the lame ghost tour. You see no ghosts do you?



The Indian hut I would prefer to live in over the colonial homes.



My dad being silly on a ship.



In the church in Jamestowns. It was very warm so we got fans. I would pretend that I was a southern belle and have a thick southern accent. I'm sure it was very annoying.



The Colonial Highway. I got to run along it, and the whole time I was thinking about the history that took place on it. I felt like if I looked quick enough into the trees I would see some Indians in their deer skins. If I listened hard enough I would hear the wagons and horses that traversed the road 200 years ago. At about mile 3, dripping with sweat and humidity, I really felt for any of the soldiers that had to march along in their hot uniforms.

Jamestown from the HUGE (at least to me) James river. I got to cross the river right where John Smith and Comp. did! Very cool. I was a little giddy about it.

Another pic of the Colonial Highway. So beautiful!