Dangerously Domestic

Just a Little Show & Tell

2011-02-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would share this super cute idea that I found. I'm sure you've seen it already. Hello, this just makes giving Valentines sooo so much more fun. Don't my kiddos look super duper cute too! I edited the pictures in Picnik - if you don't know picnik - well , you should - it is soo easy and super fun to use. I even upgraded to premium membership because i love it so much and now when I say that I LOVE YOU more than Picnik you will know that the love I have for you is big time love. Right? Right!

*Oh and don't forget to imagine the big ole sucker we will stick in their hand for their classmates!

OK, now for some Show & Tell!

For my birthday this year my good lookin hubby made me this beautiful dresser. It's amazing - just like him!

We got the idea for it from Ana White but like everything my hubby does he changed it up a bit.

Oh and I just wanted to share a picture of the blanket I just finished for my daughters teacher. She just had a baby boy. Thomas James. I'm loving the little doggy!

Here's my V-day decor!

Hey eighteen25 girls looks what I did with your printable! LOVE!

Yup and here again in my entryway hall! Poor lighting - sorry!

Kar, if you read this - possesion is 9/10ths of the law - Right!

My good friend Karen made most of the stuff you see in this picture and she said to display it at my house while she was out of town - she wanted someone to enjoy it! Thanks lady! You might not get it back.

Here is my living room all made up for V-day!

Don't you love that heart pillow - you can find the tutorial on how to make that over at V & Co! Darling & super fast to make!

xoxoxooxo

Valentine Canvas Ideas

2011-01-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

Sooo, have you seen all the darling free printables out there in bloggy land? Yah, its crazy good!!!

It sure makes for cheap decorating. So, I just wanted to quickly share with you what I've done

with some of mine. Can I first apoligize for my camera - Sorry! Now that thats outta the way have a look.

This one above is actually one I paid for but it was cheap and too fantastic to pass up. This is where I bought it if you want one for your little self.
OHH OH and check out all their stuff because it's just darling and like I said cheap.

This one above you can grab here at less cake more frosting. By the way I love her blog and her hair!

Tis True! It takes alot of Moxie to pull off that hair and I think she does it sooo well!

Ok, and the one above is not for Valentines Day but it's just down right fantabulous so I must share.

It's from one of my favorite bloggers Cheri over at i am momma hear me roar. She has it in a couple of color options too! Thanks Cher! Can I call you that? Oh and if you wanna know how to make your own she just recently did a tutorial on that too - using Picnik.

Alright its pretty self explanitory but what I did was:

First I sent the printables to Costco - My fave because they offer Lustre finish in one hour. Don't think anyone else does that and lets face it I'm impatient. I did mine 8 X 10 size. Ok, then I purchased an

11 X 14 size canvas at Hobby Lobby (can find them anywhere however). I found some cute fabric at Walmart (that doesn't happen to often) and it was polkadots so I had to have it.

So you just lay your canvas on top of the fabric and leave plenty of space around the edges to wrap to the back. You can glue it back there or use a staple gun. Then I just covered the canvas with Mod Podge and I also put some on the back of the print. Now just center it and smooth it down. I then covered mine with more Mod Podge over the picture but you certainly don't have to. I liked it liked this but I'm kinda crazy about adding flowers to everything so I quickly made up some and hot glued the little darlins to the top corner of the canvas.

Now if you notice on one of them I used newspaper (i especially liked the crossword puzzle section) to cover the canvas edges. Just rip up strips and Mod Podge them randomly on the edges -wrapping them around the back and front a tad bit.

Now get to it and let me know if you do any of them. I would love to see them.

OH OH and LOOK what I did with Cheri's tutorial on making your own printable. It's not as great as hers but it's my first one so I think it's OK. I'm the new Young Womens President in my ward and this is the Young Womens Theme. I wanted to make it for the girls so they could do their own canvas.

Also linking up to Tatertots & Jello

Ballard Knock-Off Ornament Pillow

2010-12-13T21:51:00.000-08:00

When I got my Ballard Designs catalog in November I spotted thee most adorable Holiday pillows with some big price tags. I immediately thought I'ma gonna make those! Well, I'm sure you've already seen Jen's of Tatertots & Jello version of them - I did and Jen I love em.

Here's mine.

I don't have a tutorial but it's pretty easy peasy!

I just did some freezer paper stenciling for the brown ornaments & then appliqued on the other two with some decorative stitching. Added a bit of real ribbon here and there for some texture. VIOLA!! This pillow is super GRANDE I might add - I had to use a King Size pillow to stuff it.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Big, Big Love

participating in these link ups:

Funky Paper Christmas Trees Tutorial

2010-12-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

So, I know that there are a few different versions of paper trees out there but, I can't resist showing you my take on the ole Paper Christmas Tree.

I decided to do a tutorial about half way through making these and so the photos are lacking but its pretty easy to grasp. These ones below are the ones I just finished up last

night for my cute Mom. Sorry Mom if you read this - hate to spoil your surprise. She, like myself loves fun & funky things!

I've really gone a bit crazy making these, in fact I'm doing them for teacher gifts. Here's my kitchen tree. This is what we call the straight version - no curls on the ends of the

branches. ( if you want curls just curl the ends around a pencil) I just put this one in a pot I already had.

These ones here are the first ones I ever made & that was

about 3 years ago - I've added new ideas to my current ones

that these don't have - like the glittered bases. However,

one thing I've always loved about these ones is the ornaments

I hung from them & the star on top.

It's an awesome project for kids too - infact let them make their

teacher gifts. My sweet girl made this one below for her

bedroom. Love it! No trunk on this one but still

darling!

Ok, so you are gonna need these things:

1-paper mache or styrofoam tree shape

several different fun papers ( I used 12x12)

a dowel - I used 5/16 but it don't matter

a wood base with hole drilled the size of dowel

hot glue gun

paint ( I used silver)

glitter - totally optional but Oh how it sparkles!

something fun to put atop your tree

Let's get started. I used 12X12 sheets of paper and cut 3" X 11/2" strips from that - with no wasted paper.

Here's were my pics are lacking. Start at the bottom of your tree form & work your way to the top. Working with your hot glue gun now put a strip of glue across the top of one of your paper strips and glue it so that about half of the strip is hanging below your tree form. The next strip will slightly overlap the one before it. As you

work your way up the tree stagger your strips of paper and make sure you always overlap the row below by about 1" or half of the paper length. When you get to the top the last couple of strips will need to be wrapped all the way around the skinny point. Just pull it tight and it will look nice. Then just glue your bobble to the top of the tree - be it star or glitter ball.

Cut your dowels to the length you want & paint them up. I painted mine silver. I also painted my bases silver.

I was in a hurry & wanted to skip a step and so when my paint was still wet I poured the silver glitter on. No glue needed right.

You may have a lovely storage room for all your Christmas decor with big tall shelves but this girl over here only has a storage shed full of big rubbermaid bins - So, I chose not to glue the dowel inside the tree base. It perches on top of it beautifully & then I can take them somewhat apart for compact storage. I did glue the dowel into my base however. If you use styrofoam bases just shove the dowel up the center of that and it will hold. By the way, I bought my paper mache trees at Craft Warehouse. They had two sizes.

These ones here are my vintage trees & they are a gift for my beautiful sister Amy Kate! Hope you like em sis!

While giving one of these trees is very thoughtful - I think they belong in threes. Have you ever heard the Tale of Three Trees? It's a beautiful story to share this time of year. In fact I keep my copy right next to my three trees. I hope you will read this story and share it with others. I love this beautiful Christmas Holiday doesn't it just bring a happy song to your heart.

Big, Big Love,

I'm linking up with these folks:

Halloween Collage with Love From

2010-10-03T08:49:00.000-07:00

These are my girls - my two oldest. Aren't they lovely? I adore them!

I just wanna share with you a little somethin that my oldest Little Miss made for me.

She is extremely talented in many areas but her greatest love is Art.

While her talent doesn't exceed her beauty it is amazing non-the-less!

I gave her a canvas & this is what she made of it!

I know, I know!!!!

I told you!!

Let's see those details shall we.
OHHH I love that creepy tree!
This will be displayed every Halloween season from now till the end of time.

I LOVE IT!
Thank-you my girl!

Love you, Momma

Halloween Lovin

2010-09-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

I admit it , I sometimes go a bit over board but I adore Halloween and I just thought I would do a little show & tell with my decorations. Enjoy & Happy Haunting!!!

Thanks to House of Smith's I now have a darling table display! Yahoo for great tutorials.

My Halloween Mantel
Oh Jen, thanks for the idea on the spider specimen art. Find that tutorial here on Tatertots & Jello! I also made that cute pumpkin (can't see it to well) it's from Sandy Henderson's new Shabby pumpkin pattern .
My daughter made me the Magic Book of Spells - how cute is that! Love you my girl!
Thanks for the awesome bottle Jess.
I have a few more ideas from Blogland that I still want to do so I'm not quite ready for Halloween. OHHHH yah and then I better make the kiddos their costumes. Let the holiday maddness begin. I say Bring it on!!!
Big Love,

Big Big Thanks

2010-09-17T06:28:00.000-07:00

I know , I know, I've been missing for a long, long time around here but things are slowing down a tad and I'm back. First things first, here is a big thanks from my good friend Heather regarding all the talented and generous ladies who donated to the Cure JM benefit auction.

I want to give a special thanks to all of the lovely ladies who generously donated to the Cure JM Auction that was held on September 10, 2010 in Hillsboro Oregon. It really warmed my heart each time a package would arrive on my doorstep. Each hand crafted items was made beautifully and crafted with love. Many people have never heard of Juvenile Myositis unitl now and not only did they want to know more about the disease they wanted to help us in our quest to raise money to help fund the necessary research for a cure.
I have never been to an auction before this night and let me tell you that there was so much energy, so much excitement and so much love and hope being generated. Each item had multiple bids and although I don't know the exact amounts each item sold for I am happy to share that The Cure JM Foundation was able to raise close to $20,000.00 that night. This is amazing and I have each of you who donated to thank.
I would like to give a special thanks to the following people:

Jen & Mitzi of www.dangerouslydomesticjen.blogspot.com Double sided apron, Large quilted hand bag and small book bag
Cheri at www.iammommahearmeroar.blogspot.com Cardigan, leather diaper clutch, head band, 2 boys shirts, pink onsie with knit collar and little girl blue skirt, little girl pink skirt with flowers
Jennifer at www.tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com Burlap magnetic board, 2 burlap bracelets, a burlap necklace and a burlap pillow case
Brittany at www.lovestiched.blogspot.com $20 gift card to her Etsy shop

Thank you so much for writing about The Cure JM Foundation and inspiring and encouraging followers to donate their lovely items to such a worthy cause. Because of you we received items generously donated from:

Emily C. from Sew Super Sweet in Texas 3 waiste aprons
Tricia J. in Idaho 2 prints of her watercolor paintings
Amber F. from Baby Threads and Such in Tennessee Diaper bag, winter hat, little girl shirt, and soft baby square toy
A. Taylor in Wisconsin soft red baby blanket
Shelly B. in Texas Knitted teddy bear, knitted baby girl hat w/flower, knitted worm and apple, knitted pear and snail and a cloth doll
Laura W. in Utah Cute baby onsies with and elephant on one, and a pear on another and a stiched necklace on a onsie with a skirt.
Lisa J. in Oregon 2 refinished 1970 style chairs.

Thank you ladies for your hard work and generous heart. Thank you for giving to a worthy charity. Thank you for raising awareness about an orphan disease. Thank you for Crafting for a Cure. My heart is full. You made a difference in the lives of these young children. From all of the volunteers at the Cure JM Foundation and from the bottom of my heart, we thank you.

Sincerely,
Heather Dallmann

Thank-you ladies what an amazing job you've done, you've made a difference in the lifes of many.
Big Big Love,

I'm Donating - How Bout You?

2010-07-23T07:05:00.001-07:00

I have been so overwhelmed by the response to my previous post about crafting for a Cure. Nearly every blogger I contacted agreed to both donate something to the Cure JM auction and to blog about it. In turn others have come out and said that they too would donate their creations. I would like to give a special thank-you to those who were willing to help.

Cheri - I Am Momma Hear Me Roar

Leca - Leca Unplugged

Jen - Tatertots & Jello

Brittany - Love Stitched

Jen- eighteen 25

Ashley - Make It & Love It

Also, to all those who offered their items as a result of these bloggers putting this information out there. I love you guys & appreciate your thoughtfulness. If you ever need a favor don't hesitate to call on me. Now, if you didn't get a chance to donate to Cure JM than it's not to late. The items don't have to be mailed till August 31st - you have over a month to come up with something.

Here's a little showcase of what I'm donating. I know what you are thinking aren't those Halloween decorations in the background - and I say to you , YES they are and here's the reason. The "real" apron I'm donating is only half way done (typical Jen), I'm a last minuter (real word). So, I'm showing you one I made for a friend back around Halloween. It's reversable! Yeehaw!

I will also be sending over one of these baby headbands.

Some of these fabric hair flowers

These particular ones are the ones I made for my beautiful niece who is getting married next week. I made her an arrangement to go on her dress too & still need to finish the ones for all of her sisters. Now you see why I'm not done making my CURE JM auction items. One thing at a time. Right!?
OH and I will also be throwing in one of these ever so popular camera strap covers. This is the one I made for my family reunion auction and this is my half faced beautiful sister modeling it. She was the lucky winner! Love you Ging!
Thanks again Ladies, Big Big Love,

Sunny Summer Pillow

2010-07-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my bedroom for some time now and I recently decided that my bed needed a pop of color. You know as well as I do that a big ole flower will do just the trick.

I love how it turned out and it just brightens the room up. It's so summery & fresh.

First I drew out my pattern on a piece of newspaper and cut it out.

I used some nice wool felt in my favorite mustard color. I doubled it and cut two to save some time.

Now this next part makes the petals stand up all 3 dimensional and such. What you do is fold your petal in half and stitch about a half an inch from the folded edge - I stitched varying lengths from 1 inch to 11/2 inches up the petal. You could also use glue if you don't sew or just don't want to.

This is what it looks like when your done. They are all different - just like a real flower.

Do the same to the second set of petals and then layer them on top of each other.

Looks like a sunflower don't it!

With my pinking shears I cut out two circles one just slightly smaller than the other. The I proceeded to cut strips into them and I even took some little slivers out of the tops of some of them. I also like to take the edge off of each one to really seperate them from each other.

Now layer that on top of the petals .

I pinned it down real well to my pillow top fabric & then I just sewed with my machine in a matching yellow thread up the center of the petals to hold them to the pillow top. I started sewing right after the pucker and up just a little ways but don't go all the way to the top.

Then I took some turquoise floss and made french knots in the center of the flower. I used all the strands of floss - I think there are eight strands in a piece of floss. Then I went a little crazy and did a few stitches up each petal too.

Now you know how to do this but I took a picture and so I must include it. Sew the back to the front - right sides together. Make sure and leave one side open to insert the pillow form.
There you have it. You're done! I'd love to see pictures if you make one.

Big Big LOVE,

I'm still looking for donations for CURE JM. Please just look into your heart and come up with one thing you could donate. It only takes a little bit of your time and it could change someones life. Next week I will be showing you what I've made to donate.

Many Hands Can Lift Heavy Hearts

2010-07-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I was contacted by one of my dearest friends to see if I would be willing to make and donate something for The Cure JM concert & auction fundraiser. Now, let me back up a bit and tell you something. Five years ago my brother-in-law had a tumor removed from his brain stem that left him unable to do many things including walking. At that time we called upon many people & business to donate items to be auctioned off at a fundraiser for their family. The great outpouring of donations was amazing. My heart has been touched by the generousity of complete strangers & of loved ones and this is why when my friend asked if I would donate to Cure JM I could not turn her down.

Like myself I bet many of you have never heard of JM or Juvenile Myositis. Let me tell you a bit about it. Juvenile Dermatomyositis and Juvenile Polymyositis are the most common forms of JM - a very rare autoimmune disease that affects approximately 17,000 children and adults.
JM causes a variety of debilitating symptoms including:

*Muscle weakness and pain
*Severe fatigue
*Rashes
*Swallowing and digestive difficulties
*Lung and heart problems
*Vasculitic ulcers
*Calcinosis

Some children may experience a remission, while others will battle JM their entire life, and complications from this disease can prove fatal. Medication can help to alleviate the symptoms of Juvenile Myositis, but there is no known cure. http://www.curejm.com/

Alright, so I bet you a wondering why I'm telling you all of this. I decided that I wanted to do more than just donate one item to the auction. This is where you all come in. I wanted to get the crafting, blogging community together and see if we couldn't just come up with a number of donations. I ask that you open your hearts and make just one thing to donate to this amazing cause. I have emailed some of my favorite bloggers and people who I consider to be my friends and asked them to blog about this and to donate and my heart was touched by their responses. One of them even said to me, "Thank -you for contacting me, I've been wondering how I could use my blog to help others." Excuse me but that just made me love her all the more. Over the next couple of weeks they will be blogging about this and also asking for your donations. Please check out their blogs:

Cheri of -I Am Momma Hear Me Roar
Jen of - Tatertots and Jello
Brittany of - Love Stitched

If you are interested in donating please contact me with the information on where to send your item. All donations need to be mailed out no later than August 31st, 2010. The benefit concert will be held on September 11th, 2010 at Hillsboro Stadium in Hillsboro, Oregon. Please take some time to read about the concert and auction here . Did you see that the headliner is Blake Lewis of American Idol - sooo fun.

I'm super excited, lets see how many hands can lift heavy hearts. Let's help them find a Cure for JM.
Big, Big LOVE,

Friday Friends Breakfast

2010-06-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Years ago my oldest sister started a tradition with her kids called Friday Friends Breakfast.

For the last two summers we have adopted FFB at our house. Each of my kiddos gets to pick one of their friends and invite them for breakfast. Now this isn't just any ole breakfast - its FFB and that, is special. Every child has their own placecard, fancy dishes, fan folded napkins & of course only the most desired breakfast foods. Oh and lets not forget the streamers. I cannot tell you how excited my children are every Friday for this. It usually starts on Tuesdays with my 5 year old asking is it Friday yet Mom. I love to do this for my kids. However, let me tell you something about FFB that my sister shared with me and was the real reason I decided to do this. You never know what is happening in a childs home and how just inviting a child for breakfast on a Friday morning may be the brite spot in their week. I hope we are adding a brite spot to somebody's week. One thing is for certain my children will never forget and isn't that what summers all about - Making Memories! I say Yes!

Today we had Pan-Toast & sausage links for breakfast. Hello, am I the last to know about Pan-Toast. I didn't know what I was missing - Man- O - Man. Here's how you make it.

All it takes is

*a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix

* 1 egg

*enough milk to make a batter that is not quite as thick as pancake batter

mix it up well and then just dip both sides of your bread in it. It will be have a thick coating. Griddle it up and serve with warm syrup & butter of course.

YUMMY!

Seriously, it just takes French toast to a whole nother level.

Big, Big Love

Canvas Lovin!

2010-06-24T08:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share with you a couple of canvas projects I've created.

Canvas is a budget friendly decorating solution & who doesn't love that.

This first project is my answer to NO headboard. When I was first married I was given my grandmothers bedroom furniture. It is lovely & old. The headboard was for a Full size bed. I guess back in the day they used to like to snuggle upclose. NOT I - don't get me wrong I love the hubby but I need my space when I sleep. I need King-size space. Thus the need for a headboard solution. Enter fabric covered canvas boards.

I'm sure you can figure this out but I just pulled the fabric tight and used my staple gun on the backside to make it secure.

Easy Peasy!

You will notice my hideous paneled wall here. Well, someday when my money train comes in that will be gone. Until that day let's try to pretend it isn't there. My gorgeous and talented sister Amy took these pictures of my darling kiddos for me. I didn't want anything to take away from them - ie: frames. Having things printed on canvas is pricey - you know this.

So, with my Jo-Annas 40% off coupons in hand I set out to buy some canvas boards in various sizes. First I painted all the sides and a bit of the front outer edge with black craft paint. Then after that was good and dry I covered the top of the canvas with mod-podge and situated my photo on top of that. Now you could put a nice layer of mod-podge on top of your photos but I didn't. That's it! VOILA!

Hope that money train comes soon - looks like my camera needs replaced too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big Big Love,

M.I.A

2010-06-16T21:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry - schools out ! I totally have soooo many things to share with you but the minute school got out we left for our family reunion to Yellowstone. We saw a Grizzly Bear - I Know - LUCKY! It was so much fun & by show of hands who loves their family as much as I do. Ha Ha fat chance! I've been busy designing a very special white dress for a very special little girl at my house - my head is spinning. I'm coming back I swear. ARe you still there - let me know!
Thanks for reading my blog!
Big Big Love,

Nautical Necklace T-shirt

2010-05-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

UM, excuse me, did you see these over on Get Your Craft On! I fell in love instantly & didn't waste one minute getting the stuff I needed to make one for my little Miss!

Go over to Lynette's blog if ya wanna know how I made mine.

I haven't added the bling to mine yet but I'm gonna.

My only regret is that the red isn't as true of a red as I wished for. It's the only one they had. AW well!

it really does look pink in this picture. It's not so bad in person.

My brown haired girl didn't care what shade of red it was - she was just happy that I made her something.
p.s. I just picked this shirt up at Wallyworld for $3.50 ish! I will say this though, it has a slight gather at the neckline and that made it a bit of a challenge to get the dots painted on. I say go for a completely flat shirt - you'll save yourself a bit of time.

Now go make one.

Do you think an adult could get away with wearing one of these?

I might try.

Big Big Love,

Let's BBQ !!! (a fun shirt tutorial)

2010-05-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

I just had to get this tutorial up and runnin for those BBQ lovers out there. It is Memorial Day weekend this weekend! HELLO! Can't remember what darling little magazine I just got that they were selling similar BBQ shirts but I just remember thinking -"I'm gonna make that".

Boy's are sooo hard to make things for - I would much rather make my girls something.

This darling boy just beemed with delight when he saw this shirt for HIM!

He wants to wear it to bed & then to preschool tomorrow too!

I started off by freezer paper stenciling the BBQ letters to my shirt. OH and I just bought the shirt at Wallyworld & carefully took the pocket off. It was only $3.00.

Now, if you don't know how to freezer paper stencil - NO WORRIES,

Cheri does & you can watch her do it here. She's amazing & has only boys that she makes darling things for all the live long day.

Alrighty then, once I had that done I drew myself up a hamburger. You can probably come up with a much better burger on your own but, if you don't wanna than by all means just click on my handy dandy little PDF right here and you can print mine out. Thanks to the hubbs who knows how to create PDF's -of course.
You could also add a Hot Dog if ya wanna!

Now, I like to trace my pattern onto Freezer paper so that I after I cut out each little piece I can than iron them to my felt - NO pins needed. I thought you'd like that.

I carefully cut out everything except for the cheese. OH and I threw in the ketchup at the last minute. It's just some wavy lines. If you want it at all.

See how I left a little overhang on the lettuce & the meat & I did it on the cheese too where it inserts into the bun. This way you can overlap things so they look realistic.

Just peel the freezer paper off when your finished.

I just put it all together to see how it would look before I glued & then stitched it down.

Now, you could use some spray adhesive or heat and bond but I just had this handy so I put a very small amount in the center only of each thing and positioned them. I didn't put it at the edges because I didn't want to have to sew through it later. If you dont' want to sew it down at all then glue it at the edges.

Now make sure you layer it from the bottom up just as if you were really making yourself a hamburger.

Then I stitched all the various edges down with matching thread.

I meant to add seasame seeds to the top with some floss but didn't get to it. It would be super cute.
Just for some fun color I added some floss crazy stitches to the shoulders. Cheri taught me that little fun trick too.
Since we are on the subject of BBQ-ing I just wanted to share with you my all time favorite receipe for BBQed chicken. Just grab yourself a packet of this McCormick Grill Mates in Mesquite. I follow the package directions but then I add a 1/2 cup ketchup & a 1/3 cup brown sugar to make it more of a BBQ sauce. Then I put my chicken legs (handle chicken at my house) in it and let sit in fridge overnight. Stick em on the grill the next day & no worries if they get a tad black in some places - I know you don't believe me now but the black is soooooooo good. I've made these many times and everyone always wants the receipe. Let me know if you try it. It really is the best I've had!
Have a wonderful Memorial Day. Let me know if you have any question about the shirt or the Mesquite Chicken. Happy BBQin!

Big Love,

Linking up to these partays

All Dolled Up Cardigan

2010-05-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

Sooooo, We've been in a sick slump at our house for quite some time. I think we are coming out of it - FINALLY! fa la la la la HOORAY!

I have things to talk to you about - things to share - things to teach you if you will!

For starters lets just doll up a cardigan whatayah say!

I saw these cardigans at Target & thought they were cute enough, but, there's always a but !

I didn't want long sleeves because I don't know about where you live, but, here in my place of origin the weather goes from COLD to HOT in about 9 seconds flat. We don't really have much of a spring per say. So ixnay on the long sleeve.

Here is my pretty little Miss in her new cardi!

This is going to be a pretty general tutorial because first of all everyone has done some sort of ruffle makeover lately and secondly my son got ahold of my camera and deleted several of my picture steps! Sorry bout that! Still love that boy!

Ok, so if you wanna cut off the sleeve on something why not just save the cuff down there and reattach it up were you want it. Right! Genius! See how I cut that middle section out. Save that by the way to make the ruffles.
I cut my cuff off right next to the serged edged so it would still have a nice finish. Even though knit material really doesn't even fray.

Now just put the two right sides together with the raw edges meeting and stitch it all the way around . After you flip that cuff back down ( no picture - thanx much Son) just top stitch it down real pretty like.
I added a raw edge swirly flower on top of the ruffles. I just ripped the width of fabric I wanted to give it frayed edges. Mine was about 3/4 of an inch wide. Start in the middle of the flower and work your way out -bunch the fabric as you go to create the gathers.

Add some cute pockets to the sides. It had little white pockets before - I seam ripped those off. This is just a very big pocket that I pleated in the middle and add some trim to the top.

Here's those ruffles you can make from the sleeve leftovers. I just cut the sleeve into 1 1/2 inch strips and again I just bunched as I sewed to create gathers. I went up the shoulder and even all the way around the back.

HELLO, you can't tell me she isn't darling!

I love sleeves that hit at the elbow - love them.

Got any questions? Happy to help! If you wanna see the pattern I drew up for the pocket let me know I'd be happy to post it. It's my favorite pocket EVER! I've put it on quite a few things!

Thanks for letting me share!

Big Smiles,

Link'n up with

A Word About Being A Mother

2010-05-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Being a mother is not the easiest thing in the world! Am I right?

Being a mother is the most rewarding job there is.

Being a mother is emotional.

Being a mother is accepting the differences in your children with open arms.

Being a mother is constant joy & sorrow.

Being a mother is all I ever wanted to do.

I wanted the perfect mother's day shot & I have decided this is it.

I love the nose picking, the happy clapping, the slouch of I don't want to sit here & of course the happy child.

I LOVE being a Mom! What a blessing.

Wanted to share with you what I gave myself for Mother's Day this year. Don't laugh, alot of you bought your own Mother's Day gift - I know you did. Oh and don't judge because Mr. Holyoak bought me a bush (just what I wanted) & did everything & I mean everything for me.

Sunday morning I got up and said to myself, "By darn Jen you need something fun to wear to church , I mean come on it is Your day." So I concurred with myself and went to work on my garage sale find. It was this skirt that I bought for a buck. While it was cute - it lacked spunk. I just dolled it up a bit with some frayed , layered applique. Wanna know more about that technique then you should definately visit the D.I.Y. dish. It was super easy!

OH and don't forget to use my tutorial and make yourself a matching corsage pin.

I know Mother's Day is over but do it anyway. You deserve it!

Hope your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine was!

OH and Mom, I love you to pieces!

You're the reason I always wanted to be a Mom -you just made it look so fun!

Love & Smiles,

Let's Paartay!

2010-05-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I know I've mentioned Made before but I'm sorry, Dana just has some darling ideas! DARLING! Yesterday as part of her Mothers Day Celebration she showed us that we could use paper napkins for those darling Martha flowers. HELLO!!! Genius! It looks like fabric and I love fabric. Well, it's someones birthday at my house and that little darlin is having a very special 8th birthday. I have a tradition of making a fun birthday table for the birthday person & Dana made my day sooooo easy with her fun idea! Thanks Miss Dana! I doubt she reads my blog so tell her for me if you see her! HEE HEE!

p.s. I got the napkins at Target! They had tons of darling ones!

Interested in making one of those lollies! You can find the tutorial for that over at the fabulous Rhonna Farrer's blog. She's amazing too! I had the privilege of interviewing her at a Mom's Who Make It Conference - Last July. I was a correspondent for Daria of Boutique Cafe! How fun is that! Well, I'll tell you - sooo fun!

Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Anna girl!
Smiles,

Clutch Giveaway Winner! Whoot Whoot!

2010-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, it looks as if it's lucky #31. This was a bit hard for me because I wanted to be fair and count even multiple entries within one comment. I counted down 31 comments about 5 times and every time it was : Just me and Z (see below for comment)

Yahoo for you lucky lady.

I will be in touch to find out which one is your fav.

Thanks to everyone for entering!

Smiles,

Spring Top Challenge

2010-04-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

Soooo, I've made alot of Clothing! Alot! Mostly for my children. I've never made myself anything expect for this (click it). Even that shirt was actually just a refashion. I made this one all the way from scratch - a big hunk of knit fabric. Well, I've been telling myself for sometime now that I was gonna enter the Made by Rae Spring Top Challenge. In typical Jen fashion the deadline is TODAY & I

got it done last night. Here ya have it. Do I look like I'm ready to go boxing!

Just checkin!

Thanks for dropping in!

Smiles & Big Love,

A Fun Giveaway & A Little Tutorial

2010-04-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hello & Welcome Tatertots & Jello Fans!

I think I know why your here.

Well your at the right place.

I'm having a giveaway.

Do you see those two little clutches down below. Well, last week I saw the tutorial for these

little darlins over at MADE. Did you know they are doing a celebration of mothers over there. Well, the tutorial was done by the darling & ever so talented Anna (I may or may not have a daughter with that name - so I'm a bit partial). Please check out her blog Noodlehead & all her lovely creations.

Anyhow, I decided that I just had to make these for my giveaway. So, I DID!

Thanks Anna!

The inside has two card pockets.

So, this is how it goes: I will randomly choose one winner & that winner will have their choice of which one of the two is their favorite.
Here's how you enter:

*One entry for leaving a comment here on my blog.

*A second entry for leaving a comment on Jen's blog Tatertots & Jello

*A third entry for becoming a follower of MY BLOG.

Please leave a seperate comment here telling me each entry that you have done so that I can keep track of your entries.

Clear as MUD!

The Giveaway will close on Sunday night 5/2

at midnight!

Thanks again for everything Jen - I really appreciate you and all your bloggy love!

-------------------------------------------------------

Here's that flower tutorial I promised.

YOu all probably know how to make these. There are so many darling fabric flowers all over bloggy land. For those few that don't scroll down and I will show you.

First cut four of the same size circles. I use my pinking shears to add some fun texture!

Fold each of them in half - you can iron them if you like - I don't!

AT this point you could also insert circles of netting into the circles. In one of the pictures below you will see one that I did that with. It gives it extra fluff and flair!

Then you just began overlapping them. Round and round!

When you get to the last one you lay it down and then flip the first ones end over it. You know like when you fold a box so that it will stay shut. Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy.

Then I sew a little X in it to hold it all together. I've glued the pieces together before as well.

Add another one on top of that one to give it a fun layered look!

I didn't have the perfect button to go in the middle so I just took one of my ugly buttons that had a shank on the bottom and I mod podged fabric to the top of the button. How cute is that. You can cute up all your old ugly buttons like this. I'm gonna!

You could also add a rolled flower to the center of one of these or some chipboard buttons. Mix it up and have fun.

Happy to answer any questions!

Smiles,

For ME!

2010-04-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, did you know that every week & even on the weekend over at Tatertots & Jello there is a giveaway? OH bless that Jen's heart she is amazing.

Did you know that I won said giveaway last week.

Guess what I won?

The most adorable Headband made by a very talented a darling gal named Brittany.

You can find her over at her blog

http://lovestitched.blogspot.com/

Brittany, I love my new headband.

I tried to get pictures of it on me and well it looks as though they were all outakes!

Bless my little Z-man's heart - he was a bit silly.

I love him! OH how I love him.

Enjoy the pics!

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles & Big Big Love,

Framed

2010-04-17T00:44:00.000-07:00

So, I had some old outdated frames. They actually never really matched anything I had and they certainly didn't match each other. No biggie - we can fix that. In fact can't you just about fix anything with Mod Podge. I think so!

So I just painted the edges with some black acrylic paint. Mod Podged some darling scrapbook paper that I had.

Then of course another layer of Mod Podge over the paper to seal it.

Glued some ribbon trim here!

Ruffled some cute fabric to another strip of fabric and then glued it on with some good ole E6000. Added a chipboard button.

Made a cute & crazy flower and added that to this last one.
I know I'm being kind of quick with my description. I had a root canal today --so please forgive. I would be happy to provide a detailed tutorial if anyone is interested.

Did you see what I created last week! Check it out!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Smiles & Big Love,

Linkin up as usual.

Who Is Jen?

2010-04-15T11:59:00.000-07:00

I thought I would do a post and tell you a bit about Who Jen is. Well, I'm Jen (Jennifer) , my parents and my brother call me Jenny.

These are my parents -You see I was twiced blessed -

I was born of goodly parents who also have a great sense of humor.

My sisters, I have 6 of them well they call me all sorts of things (Jeffer, Jenner, idgit) but mostly just Jen. The hubby calls me things too but I can't repeat that. wink!

I'm the lucky wife of Mr. Holyoak. I simply adore him. He is my Mr. Right. He never holds me down but has always given me wings to fly. Everything that I've ever made that was good was with him by my side. Love you Babe!

I am the blessed momma to these four little darlins. They keep our house lively & full of love & lots of laughter. Being a Mom is a full time job that is more rewarding than anything else.

It seems like a life-time ago but I used to design for a Boutique Childrens Clothing group on Ebay- Ivylane - It was fun but as we added to our family I just had to let that part of my business go. Here are a couple of my designs. Making my children clothing is still my favorite thing to do.

It's a tradition around this house to have themed Halloween costumes. Making my kiddos costumes is something I completely love to do. They usually arent' done till Oct 30th at midnight but hey, we make it work.

For the last couple of years now I have been making and selling designer scrub caps to nurses all over the U.S. but mostly right here in the Idaho -Utah area. My darling sister-in-law is my wonderful sidekick.

So, basically, I'm just a crazy momma who loves to sew, spend time with my family & friends, listen to music super duper loud, dance like nobodys watching kinda gal.

Feel free to introduce yourself! I love to meet new people.

Big Smiles & Love

Pear-Shape Book Tutorial

2010-04-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last Spring I needed something fun to sell at my family auction. My family holds an auction every year at our family reunion where we sell our handmade or purchased goods to other members of our family and then the money is used to pay for next years family reunion. Anyhow, blah , blah, blah, I came up with this version of a pear which was inspired by my good friend Jessica's pear. She's a clever gal! Thanks lady! It was a big hit at the family reunion and I have made it several times since for gifts (hello -wouldn't this be the cutest gift for the ladies in your book club) . Wanna make one - it's super easy and I bet you have nearly everything you need already.

Alright, so gather your supplies:
*scissors or an exacto knife
*old book
*black & white craft paint
*sponge brush
*sanding paper
*pattern (half a pear shape drawn out)
*green ink pad
*wooden block
*quick drying glue (I used hot glue & zip dry glue)
*twig from your yard
*green felt

Ok, first off I have to say that I didn't capture every step with my camera because truth be told I just recreated this scene after I had made it - you know since I made it last Spring! Sorry - I can answer any question and I will try my best to spell it out for you. You can Do THIS!

So, You just draw out your pear shape or half a pear shape as seen below. Make sure the bottom of your pattern is flat so that your pear will stand up nicely. After you have ripped the cover off your book and most of the goo off the side of your book (use a razor to scrape it off if its being difficult). Make sure to leave a bit so that your book doesn't fall apart. Then lay your pattern with the flat side to the bound edge. This is when you can either trace it with a pencil or just use your exacto knife and cut around your pattern. You won't be able to go thru all the layers of course you will just work your way down. I traced it and then used scissors to cut mine out - just because my exacto blade was a bit dull. Don't worry about perfection -rough edges give it character. I used about 100 pages to make mine as full as it was. After you get that task done you can go thru and ink the edges of the pear and even a bit towards the center every now and then. This picture here is showing a different ink then my original pears and I don't like it as well. This was a chalk ink and the original one I used that is my favorite and the ink on the finished pear pictured is a Versa Color Ink in bamboo. Love it. Ran OUT! darn. Use what you have -it will be cute.

I had the hubby cut me out a circle that was about an inch bigger than the widest part of your pear. He routered the edge for a cute finish. I know that you can pick up something similar at Micheals or probably even JoAnns. After you get that done paint your wooden base. I just used craft paint. First I painted mine white and then when that was good and dry I painted black over that - a couple of coats . Now get out that sandpaper and rough it up a bit. Sand the top in a few places and the edges. I even banged mine up a bit with my keys.

Now get out your favorite quick drying glue and glue the front page to the back page - hold it or use some pinch clips to do so. I used Zip dry glue - it really does dry super fast. love that. Usually! I wanted my pear to be shapely , as shapely as a pear shape can be - You know! That's a whole nother topic for girls nite out - Right! Back to the tute . I randomly went thru and glued different pages together to make it pleasing to the eye. Just start - you will see what I mean. Next I put a big ole dob of hot glue on the bottom of the pear and glued it smack dab in the middle of the painted base.

Now go out to your yard or sneak into your neighbors yard and clip a bit of a branch off of one of the trees. I like a branch with a bit of a jaunty little curve to it. I just clipped that off to a nice stem size and I used E6000 to glue mine to the top of the pear. You have to hold it for quite a bit if you use E6000 though. You could use hot glue but be so careful because it tends to ooze out and it won't look that great with a gob of hot glue up top.

Again, not a great picture of my leaf but this is easy. I just cut a leaf shape out of a great green felt and then I ran mine through my sewing machine to add veins but you could also use some floss and stitch it on by hand. No veins at all would work as well. Then I just wrapped the bottom of the leaf to the bottom part of the stem and VOILA!!!

There you have it! Make two and use them as book ends (you'd have to weight them to be very effective book ends) Make some for those darling gals in your book club. Just keep it for yourself - you worked hard! Good luck and don't forget to share if you do make one. I would love to see yours.

I'm linking up as usual to Jen over at Tatertots and Jello!

Hey if you wanna find out what shape your talent is check out my bro-in-laws blog - you might be a pear shape. Actually, that's not one of the shapes but go have a look . His link is over there on my side bar - BE MUSED! neat inspirational blog!
Smiles & Big Big Love

Little Miss Creative

2010-04-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

We come into this world with a desire to create. It is our job as mothers not to stiffle that creativity in our children but to encourage them to create. Isn't it hard though, at times, when they are making BIG BIG messes, when they are ruining their once nice shirts with glue and paint, when they are begging you to help them. When I began to feel this way my hubby always lovingly reminds me "She's just like you Jen, she just "has to" be creating!" I'm going to do better and not get so uptight when my daughter asks to use "THE BERNINA", or when my son wants to paint rocks. Just some thoughts off the top of my head.

My oldest made me these adorable magnets to display their school work under. Each one is attached to a clothespin. How adorable are these! Seriously so creative. No tracing or looking at anything just pure talent. I Love them! Thanks for making these for me my girl!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on letting your children create.

Link'n up with darling Jen again - go over and check out the party!

Spring Easter Tree

2010-03-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

I started a tradition about 5 years ago of bringing branches in from my lilac tree and turning them into an Easter/Spring Tree. The warmer temps inside my house had a forced blooming effect on the lilacs and they would always bud out and when Easter was especially late in the season the lilacs themselves would bloom. So pretty, but of course there was always a downfall. Just like all cut flowers, lilacs die and they always die before I'm ready to take down my Easter decor. This year I decided that I was going to bring in the branches but give them some paper love.

So, go out to your yard and don't forget your clippers. Cut down some branches from any of your trees - I am picky and I like to select the branches that have a bit of an out and upward curve to them - I think they make a prettier tree then those of the more straight nature. YOU do what you like of course - I'm just sayin!
Next, just go to work with some of your favorite scrapbook paper and cut , cut ,cut out tons and tons of leaves. I folded my paper wrong sides together and cut the leaves so that I had a front and back. The particular line of paper I used is called "Home" by the company My Mind's Eye. It just caught my eye because of it's Springy colors. If you have a die-cut machine this is where you would use it to cut out leaves - OHHH the time that would have saved. No really it didn't take that long. Pay no attention to the butterflies those were just scrap pieces I was using.

I used several different papers - probably about 9 different ones.

Now just start glueing them to the branches. I just sandwiched the branch inbetween the two identical leaf shapes. You can use any quick drying glue that you prefer. I didn't use hot glue but you could certainly try it. The particular glue I used was Martha Stewart "Create" gel adhesive. I bought it at Walmart.

I glued a leaf to every single branch. At first I didn't have as many but my hubby walked by and said , "Babe, I think your tree looks a bit fallish and it needs more leaves." I had to agree and went to work cutting and glueing. I think it gives the tree some nice interest if you angle each leaf a bit different than the next.

Here's the finished product complete with Easter decorations. Sorry , my wallpaper is sort of distracting from the tree. Click on the picture and you can see it better.

Now, if you want to make some Easter eggs to hang on your tree they are super duper easy. I just cut strips in varying sizes out of one of my favorite lines of fabric and then mod podged them to a plastic easter egg. You know, the kind you fill with goodies for your kiddos. Then after I had the egg all covered in fabric I let it dry for a bit. Then, I did a final coat of mod podge and wrapped a ribbon around the egg and secured it to the top with a dot of hot glue. Leave enough ribbon up top to dangle from your tree. Easy right. I bet you have tons of those plastic eggs lying around. Now if someone could just come up with something creative to do with all that blasted Easter grass that gets spread all over your house at Easter.

Feel free to ask any questions . Always happy to help.

Big Big Love, JEN

Oh and Happy Spring!

You know what I just thought of - wouldn't it be cute to also add some paper flowers to the branches or crepe paper flowers. If I get to that I will post a picture.

I am linking this post up with the wonderful Jen over at Tatertots and Jello for the weekend wrap up party. Come by and see all the goodies!

2010-02-13T22:23:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to share with you my latest creation. (no it's not my crazy red hair -that will wash out in 28 washes & not a wash more-fingers crossed) Those of you that I know and love know that I have been talking about sharing tutorials for my creations right here on my little ole blog. Todays the day! Whoot Whoot! Alright, to business. This ones pretty basic but I just love how it turned out. I dug threw my closet and found this gray shirt that is pretty cute but also pretty plain for me. After talking to my beautiful sister Molly & looking over some of her favorite JCrew shirts - I decided that my shirt needed flowers & lots of them. Although just a few would also be darling!

While I was digging for my shirt I spotted my favorite skirt and thought walla.

So, I dug through my fabric pile. Ok, lets face it, it's more of a mountain that needs refolded. I found some fabrics that went well together , including some satiny fabrics just because I loved the sheen they gave to the skirt. Then I just started cutting circles of various sizes. Knock yourself out and just get crazy with the placement. Don't forget to cut plenty of leaf shapes as well.

Then I cut out enough netting circles to go over every circle (flower). I used netting that was very stiff & with the bigger holes. Mine is black but you could do any color really.

After I placed everything exactly where I wanted it - I slide my small cutting board in between the front and back of the shirt and pinned it all down. You know so as not to pin the back of the shirt to the front. Can't very well get your body into a shirt that is sew'n shut. Now, if I had thought about it ahead of time and hadn't been so anxious to just start cutting. Typical Jen! I would have first ironed the different fabric to fusible web and then cut the shapes. Then I could have just ironed them to my shirt, but I didn't and this worked too. So no need to go buy fusible web.

Now it's time to stitch them on. Don't forget to put your jersey needle in. Makes sewing on knit sew much easier & neater. I used my freemotion foot for the circles (drop those feed dogs )so that I wouldn't have to turn and turn and turn the shirt. A regular foot would have worked wonderfully and that is what I used on the leaves. Loved the look of the skirt and so I went with that and sewed X's in the middle of each one and then one or two circles around that.

Here's a look at the leaves stitched up.

After I got everything sewed down, I played around with the vine that all my little flowers were growning on. First I thought I would use this black ribbon with white stitches through it. Wasn't exactly what I wanted .

So I decided to hand stitch the vine with floss. I liked white the best for my design. It just gave it that pop that I wanted. Does your floss look like mine does. I wish I was a neat freak but sadly I am not. Somebody tell me your floss looks like this. Anybody! Now use a water soluble pen to draw out the lines or a chalk pencil for darker shirts.

Walla, you have a fun "new-ish" shirt to wear on your hot date with your hubby. (that's what i did anyway) Or just wear it to clean your house and hold your babies -knit shirts are my go-to shirt for everyday wear. Dream up something cute or feel free to copy mine. OH and I did put a bit of fray block on the satiny fabric but I do like a bit a fraying. I would love to see what you come up with. By the way, I already started next weeks project to share and it's another shirt makeover so, come back and see me. Feel free to Follow me! wink

Big Big Love , JEN
feel free to ask any questions -not sure if that was as clear as mud.
Thanks for the link party (tatertots & Jello )Jen. Click on Jen's link on my sidebar and see all the linky love and check out her blog because she is such the creative little gal.