Rearview Mirror Decor?

Out with the purple Mardi Gras beads and in with the new. For two years now my husband has poked fun of the beads hanging from my rearview mirror, placed their by my daughter after a school parade of some sort. Well complain no more. Now I have something that looks just like me - in my car. Crafting is no longer just for my home.

So what do you think? Cute isn't it. *Sidebar* FYI if you ever have a small chip/crack in your window, do not drive 21 hrs. straight through to Utah because they received a great snow storm and your husband just has to go skiing. Because somewhere in New Mexico in the middle of the very very cold night, and the temperature hits -9 degrees your windshield will crack instantly from one side to the other. Nice though isn't it.

Started with these cuties, any flower will do.

Cut my burlap 2 1/2"X15". Put hot glue down the middle and folded 1st third over.


Added a piece of tin (I cut off my roofing roll) to one end, and then folded and hot glued the other side down.Hot glued a flower to each end of my burlap strip (on the same side).

Last, I added a small but powerful magnet to the opposite end of the tin piece.
I originally hot glued the magnet but it would not stay, so I out powered it and glued it on with gorilla glue.

Linked to:
Somewhat Simple
Life as Lori
Fireflies and Jellybeans

Kroger * Kellogg's Cereal Deal*

Just got back from Kroger (Smith's, Fry's) and found an amazing deal. Kellogg's Cereal is on Sale 4/$10. (Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Corn Pops, Apple Jacks and Rice Krispies) When you buy 4 in one transaction you get 2 Gallons of milk Free.

Plus there was a blinkie machine there with $.70 off one box of Kellogg's cereal. So for $7.20 I got 4 boxes of cereal and 2 gallons of milk.

Then when I checked out, to my surprise I received a catalina for $3 off my next purchase. So now I can rinse and repeat the above transaction and only pay $4.20.

WaHoo!! I feed 5 kiddos and cereal goes fast around here. Now to figure out what to do with all of that milk. Does milk freeze?

Shamrock Pin*Update*

For all of you "no sew" crafters out there, I made the shamrock pins at least without the sewing machine. You will still need to hand sew the leaf to get the puckered look. Actually you may be able to try doing this with a glue gun. I did not try that. Silly me...no sew duh. Anyhow this time I used a heat and bond instead of zig-zagging, and achieved the perfect stiffness for the fabric. It gave it a much cleaner look, not so rugged and tattered. Now you just have to decide what look you like best. To see previous post and obtain patterns and further directions click here.

Linked to:
Creations by Kara
Skip to My Lou
Life as Lori
Simply Designing
Somewhat Simple

Shamrock Pins

I have a thing for making Holiday Pins for my kids teachers. But I have never made a shamrock or anything for St. Patrick's Day (pin wise) for that matter until now. Yesterday I found a pattern for making the cutest little flowers over at the DIY Dish.

Now as soon as I saw the pattern another idea came to mind, and these little shamrocks were born. The tutorial on how to make the flower is on DIY Dish as well as the pattern download. While you're there don't forget to enter their Giveaway. They are giving away a Janome sewing machine and a Janome embroidery machine.

For the shamrock I did not stagger the petals (at least on the one with two layers) I also did not use felt as you can see. I like printed fabric, so in order to make it stiff enough I cut out two layers of fabric and placed the wrong sides together and then quickly zig-zagged around them so the edges would stay in tack. You will also need to trace one on and then flip the pattern and trace the next one on so that they will match up perfectly. For the stem I just rolled a piece of fabric and then zig-zagged down the middle. Then I tacked them together and sewed on a button or some beads for embellishment, glued the pin to the back and whala I was done.

Below are some close-ups of each one. I think they turned out so cute, as you can tell or I would not be sharing. And they are the perfect thing if you need a little " Lucky Green".

For a no sewing machine pin go here.

Linked to:
Today's Creative Blog
Skip to My Lou
A Soft Place to Land
The Girl Creative
Sumo's Sweet Stuff

Blocks for Dad

I have had a few friends ask if I would post a picture of the gift I helped my daughter make for the kids to give their Dad for Valentine's Day. So here is my version. The original design was by Steph over at Somewhat Simple, I basically just stole the idea. And it was the perfect gift, he actually loved it. You see he thinks that Valentine's Day is just a made-up commercial holiday to get you to spend money. Well I showed him, I had all the materials here to make this, except for the $1.98 1/2" board that is painted
white. And now I have enough of that board left to make other
designs along this line.

Shamrock Garland

I took the Heart Garland down and the french doors just looked bare. So off I went to find some green fabric. I added some rainbow fabric where my coins hang down, not sure whether or not it will stay we'll see if it grows on me. What do you think? Found the gold coins at Hobby Lobby, and just drilled holes through them in order to string them up. Tutorial for making the garland here.

Linked

Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Life As Lori
Fireflies and Jellybeans
The Girl Creative
Somewhat Simple
Skip to My Lou
A Soft Place to Land
Simply Designing

Easter Pennie Pockets

Aren't these adorable. I found the tutorial for these here, but I was too late for Valentine's Day so I made some up for Easter. These little door hangers are super easy to whip up and will make great gifts. I plan on giving mine away towards the end of March to some gals I will be visiting. I will probably type up a little message to roll up and put inside as well. A treat and a message in a cute little package, what could be better. For those of you who have a sewing machine but think you can't make these, think again. This is a super beginner pattern with only 5 straight line stitches. Just follow the edge of your foot for a 1/4" seam, and remember stick pins are your friends.

Here are the rest I made, they just don't have anything in them yet. Aren't they darling... I am thrilled at how they turned out.

Linked

A Soft Place to Land
Today's Creative Blog
The Girl Creative
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Somewhat Simple
The Creative Itch
Skip to My Lou

Finally... Quilted Hearts

So I have been working on this for a few weeks. I couldn't find a pattern of what I wanted, so I finally just drew one up and then had to call my sister-in-law for her expertise. It turned out exactly as I wanted. It's finished measurements are: 29" x 15". I'm thinking I will leave it up for another week so I can enjoy it for a little bit.

Charming Photo Frames

Charming little photo frames for everyday. I found these little 3x3 frames at the dollar tree the other day and knew they would be just perfect for filling in the little spaces in my home decor.

Here is the 411 on how to make your own. First pick out the colors you want to use and cut them just a little bigger than needed. Then cover you first section with mod podge and place your paper on so that it hangs over all edges. I had to finger press all the bubbles out because the frame is arched and the credit card was not working for me.

Next you have to cut down the paper so you can fold it around the edges. place more mod podge and finish working out your bubbles on the edges. Once my edges were dry, I folded in my corners and pressed them down making a good crease. Then I flipped the paper back over and made my cut on the angle. Now it is time to add another color. I chose to go with the opposite side to give the other piece more time to dry. When all four sides are done apply a coat of mod podge and let dry.



After all sides are done if you have a corner that did not turn out so well, I did on my first two. Just apply some ribbon to cover it up. Place a glue dot on back and pull ribbon through the frame opening, then in order to get the corner to lay flat I twisted the ribbon over so that made like a bow tie look on the corner. Then fastened it to the back with another glue dot and cut off the end. Add any other embellishments and you are done.




And since they are frames you can change what goes inside. From holiday to everyday. I just love how they turned out.

Linking:

The Creative Girl
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Creations By Kara
The Persimmon Perch
Cottage Instincts
The Thrifty Home
A Soft Place to Land

Book Page Wreath

I found this fantastic book page wreath over at Fireflies and Jellybeans. Isn't it adorable. She has great style and I love how versatile she makes it, to give it different looks. To see how she does it you will need to go and check out her tutorial.