Beneath My Dreaming Tree

Baby Angry Bird Costume

2011-10-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

I'm letting the cat out of the bag a little early this year. Our family, well most of us, are going as Angry Birds this Halloween! And I don't know if you've priced out the costumes, but, uh, they ain't cheap! So it was time for Mommy to think outside the box.

And I started with out youngest.

The yellow angry bird.

Here's what I found online.

And it would never do.

So I bought a long sleeved onsie.

And some lemon yellow Rit Dye.

I couldn't find a face online really, so I drew one.

(feel free to print it out and enlarge it as you see fit.)

I dyes the onesie and cut the face out of red, white, black, and orange felt.

I ironed some interfacing onto the wrong side of the front and appliqued the face right on that little onesie.

I also sewed on a little ribbon for the feathers and secured it with a button. I think it makes it a little more girly.

Now, to add to the adorableness, I made a tutu, using my favorite go to pattern.

I cut a ribbon, black of course since the yellow bird has black tail feathers, and tied knots with about 20 inches in between.

I cut 3 yards of yellow tulle into 6" strips that were 12" long.

I ~~popped in a movie~~ turned on Netflix and tied and tied and tied.

And ended up with this.

Could you just die?!

Now for the cherry on top, I made a little bow.

I used a combination from two tutorials, found at Craft Rookie and Funky Polkadot Giraffe.

And looky looky what I made!

Cute little tuft of feathers if I do say so myself.

Add a black headband and some black tights and we're ready to charm the pants off of anyone we meet!

Halloween here we come!!

Something Special

2011-09-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

** Contest closed! Check out the winner here!**

It all began three years ago. I was sitting on the couch in my family room and I decided I would jump on the bandwagon and start blogging. I know, I know, everyone in the world had already discovered it. I am usually a little tardy to the party. I like to think news travels slow in Wyoming. You know, I didn't even hear that song Baby Got Back until I was in college. We're talking the year 2000 people!! I mean, when did it come out, like 1992?! Yeah, I'd like to just say I was sheltered or something, but there were a lot of movies and songs I never even knew existed until I went out into the world. *cough* Dirty Dancing... *cough* ...Top Gun... *cough* ...Fight For Your Right To Party... *cough cough*

Yeah, so as you can see, I can be a little behind. Well, I think in honor of my third blirthday (ha ha, clever, right?! I mean anyone can have a blogiversary, but a BLIRTHDAY? Now that's something special!) we're gonna have us a GIVEAWAY over here! That's right, folks! The time has come for me to reward you all for sticking by me and my fashionably late ways. You, who have been there from the beginning. YOU, who I've picked up along the way. YOU, who stalk me and never say a word...(that's right, I know you're out there)...It's time to be seen and play along because I have something seriously fun to give out today!

Have you heard of My Memories? Well, I think it's high time you learned about them because they are seriously AWESOME! They are so AWESOME, in fact, that they have given me a free copy of their digital scrapbooking software, and and additional copy for me to

GIVE AWAY TO ONE LUCKY READER!!

Blah blah, you say? I've seen it all before you say? I have my OWN digital scrapbooking software you say?!?! Well, don't be so quick to judge. Because I had NO IDEA just how amazing this program was until I downloaded it and played with it myself.

As some of you know, I used to LOVE to scrapbook. LOVE IT. I have all my supplies downstairs gathering dust. I am SO VERY behind it's ridiculous! I think the last thing I actually sat down and scraped was my wedding...which was 8 years ago. So let's just say I've got a lot of work ahead of me. My biggest problem is that I don't have my own space and you and I both know what a PAIN it is to drag everything out just to work on it for a few hours and then have to put it away again so we can actually eat up to the table.

BUT

I do have a few extra minutes today while the kids are sleeping, and my chores are done, so I sit up to my computer and BLAMO...

Some beautiful pages that took 15 minutes to put together and I don't have to put all my crap away. And when the time comes to actually get them printed and put into a physical book, My Memories will actually make a professionally bound book for you! (I haven't done one yet, but I think it is happening in the very near future.) If you'd rather just get the whole page printed and add it to your own scrapbook, I know that Costco does it for a fairly low price, but I just heard about another place online that is actually CHEAPER than Costco, if you can believe it! It's called ScrapbooksPlease and they do a FABULOUS job.

But say you don't wanna convert to the digital way of scrapbooking. You have your own space and love the way the handmade pages look. That's great! There are a billion other things this amazing software can do! Think of it like the easiest form of Photoshop you'll ever use!

Say you need to make a quick thank you card for everyone who came to your son's birthday party.

Done and done.

Or maybe you're in Young Womens and you need a handout for this week's lesson.

No Sweat.

How about an invitation?

Awesome.

Birth announcement?

Got it covered.

Calendar?

Easy.

Christmas card?

It's only September and it's done!

Birthday party decorations?

Ta-da!!

Blog Header?

Heck yeah! Even a blog header!!

The possibilities are endless, people! Endless!

I know you want it, am I right?

Well, my friends, you are in luck because one of you can WIN a FREE COPY of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software right here, right now!!! (And by the way, it costs $40, so a free copy is nothing to sneeze at!!) I will draw the winner next MONDAY morning, September 26, 2011.

BUT...

If you gotta get your hands on it right now,which I completely understand because it is so totally fun, I am giving you a code for

$10.00 off

the purchase of My Memories Suite software...

(which makes it only 30 bucks! WAHOO!!)

and (as if that weren't enough) another

$10.00 off

the purchase of anything else fun from the MyMemories.com Store!

Please let me explain something here. This is pretty awesome because all the paper, elements, alphabets, etc work in Photoshop and GIMP and the like! So uh how awesome is that?!

The special code you wanna use is:

STMMMS80924

Just copy and past the code STMMMS80924 your shopping cart when you check out.

OR YOU CAN ENTER TO WIN ONE FOR YOUR VERY OWN SELF!!

Head over to my other blog for the details!
Do it!
Do it!

Installing New Glass Onto An GE Oven Door

2011-09-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

I know, this is a very different topic for my blog, but we had the unfortunate opportunity to replace the glass on our oven range door.

We had a small incident with a child's chair which caused a massive explosion.

And much sadness.

So I called GE and got the information I needed. It was no longer under warranty so we would just have to call someone locally. I talked to someone in the parts department and got the part number, and then went to Parts Select.com and ordered a new glass door.

It was WAY cheaper than I thought it was going to be and arrived in really good time. We're talking 4 days.

There were NO instructions anywhere online. There was a picture.

When I talked to the parts department, this is what he directed me to.

Soooo...

In order to help anyone else who has this problem, here's what we did.

First, unscrew the inside of the door using a torx bit.

There are two screws in the inside of the door that allow the glass to separate from the door itself.

We've opened this before when I spilled pumpkin pie filling and it got inside.

Once those screws are loosened, remove the handle assembly.

We used a 1/4" socket and took out the screws that attach the handle onto the frame.

There are two on each side.

Once the handle is removed, you need to be careful not to let the door close because it could bend the frame. This requires a second person.

There are clips on the inside of the handle assembly that hold the glass in place.

Remove any glass from under those.

Then get the brand spankin' new shiny glass,

Align the glass into the bottom of the frame.

Line up the side rails of the frame with the glass.

Position the handle back onto the glass and frames.

Reattach the screws on either side

The attatch the door back onto the frame and glass.

And just like that, good as new.

Start to finish, it took us less than 30 minutes to complete.

And that was with me saying "Stop! I want to take a picture"

Moral of the story here is to keep all children's chairs out of the kitchen to avoid further explosions.

A Cinderella (Dress) Story

2011-09-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

Five years ago I had a baby.

And the time came for us to bless* him.

And I did not feel like paying $100 for a tiny suit her would wear one time.

There was a little suit at the Distribution Center, but it was a little too "Peter Pan" for me.

It was all shiny and kind of effeminate.

Sorry.

I mean, I know baby boys can get away with wearing something a little more feminine,

But I had a way more manly vision in mind.

So I made him a tux.

Complete with coattails and a bow tie.

There were no patterns out there for such a project, so I took one for a simple romper and added my tux parts. It was a ton of work, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

And he looked so super handsome!

I mean have you ever seen a more beautiful 3 month old?!

Top 3 anyway.

Three years later, I had another baby and this time it was summertime.

And hot.

The tux was just too heavy to put my new babe in.

So I sought out another pattern, which proved to be pretty hard to find.

Why can I never find a good pattern for boys clothes?!

But I found this cute little number and thought it just might work.

And it did!

Especially without the jacket.

Such a cute tie!

And the suspenders?! Adorable.

Although the jacket was pretty cute as well.

And speaking of cute, have you ever seen a cuter baby?!

Well, technically, I know he's one of the three cutest babies that ever lived

But honestly. So so so CUTE!!

Well, fast forward two years and along came Amelia.

And I finally got to make a blessing dress!

Well, sort of.

You see, before I had Amelia my Mom did a super sweet thing and bought a blessing dress for her.

She's the best, you know.

But I fear my mom got taken a bit.

She paid quite a bit for this dress.

And the fabric it was made of was SUPER cheap.

And thin.

And I knew something had to be done.

Also, I wanted to add a couple if my own little touches to it to personalize it.

You know me.

Can't leave well enough alone.

And here's what I came up with.

I took the bodice off the skirt.

I removed the trim and large daisy.

I took the top tier off the skirt so it wouldn't be as long.

I bought a yard of satin and cut a skirt out of it.

There's no zipper in the back, just buttons, so I lucked out there.

I added three rows of ribbon at the bottom and some beaded lace daisies.

I added lace from my wedding dress around the waist, and added a tie in the back.

I used the original skirt as a petticoat and sewed tulle along the bottom to make it more, uh, poofy.

It turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

And I only spent $5 on fabric, tulle, and ribbon.

I had everything else.

HOORAY for saving scraps!

I also whipped up a headband using the trim I used on my wedding veil.

And I used the big daises on my wedding dress, so I had to incorporate them somehow.

To top it off,I felt she needed a bracelet.

So I made one.

But I also made one for myself.

Mother and daughter matching bracelets.

With a matching charm.

And I think it all came together beautifully.

A pretty princess dress...

...for a pretty princess.

Honetsly. One of the three cutest babies you've ever seen, amIright?!

*In the LDS religion, we give babies a name and special blessing when they are young, as in months old. It's probably most comparable to a Christening or a Name Dedication etc.

Magic Brownies

2011-09-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

We need to have a little talk about these brownies. They are magical. Seriously! They are my most favorite brownie recipe on the planet. My mom has been making them as long as I can remember and I like to think I've perfected the recipe. I hope my kids will someday love them as much as I do and remember me making them.

Anyway, here is the coveted recipe:

Magic Brownies aka Smarshmallow Brownies
2 cubes butter (not margarine!)
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (optional but oh so yummy)
1 bag mini marshmallows

Cream together butter, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs, beating well after each one. Add flour, salt, and extracts. Mix well until nice and creamy. Spray a cookie sheet with Pam and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Take out of oven and cover with the mini marshmallows. Put back in oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes, until they are nice and puffy and a tiny bit browned. Pull them out and let the cool completely!

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
2-4 TBSP milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream the butter and cocoa powder,add powdered sugar and vanilla. Then add enough milk to make it nice and creamy, not too stiff and not too runny. If so, add more milk or powdered sugar, appropriately. Then frost brownies, but make sure they are TOTALLY cool (like me,ha ha) or the marshmallows will make a giant yummy mess.

Oh help me Rhonda! These are the BEST!!

Amelia's Birth Announcement

2011-08-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a copy of the birth announcement I made up for our little Amelia.

How To Make A Car Seat Canopy

2011-07-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

Car seat canopies or tents or whatever you want to call them.

I had never even heard of them until my sister-in-law told me about them.

She was pregnant and had asked if I could make her one.

Sure sure I said.

And off to the internet I went and found about a million different ways to make them.

And a million more boutiques that sell them.

Whew! I was overwhelmed.

So after getting the general idea, I decided I needed to to a trial run.

I just so happened to have a friend having a shower in a few days.

She was having a little boy, which didn't leave me a whole lot of options as far as accessories and trims and such. So I went with simple.

Here's what I did:

I started out by getting two one yard cuts of coordinating fabric, one yard of blue, one yard of green.

I laid them out, wrong sides together, and cut them down to about 36" x 30"

I then rounded the edges using a big bowl.

*Note to self*

when making a rounded edge, use a bowl that's hard.

That way the curve will be the same on all sides...

just sayin...

After getting the fabric cut, I decided that it was winter and maybe it would be a good idea to insulate it a little. Wyoming winds can be brutal. So I put a piece of polar fleece in between the two layers.

I then drew diagonal lines, two inches apart, across the whole thing and used my sewing machine to quilt along those lines. I then decided to do more lines in the other direction, which created a diamond pattern.

I sewed a decorative stitch around the edge, leaving about an inch and a half edge, which I cut and frayed, like a rag quilt.

I used the excess fabric that was cut off to make two reversible straps. I tried to figure out the best way to make them be reversible and decided on big buttons. So the straps I made had a buttonhole on each end.

I then got out my car seat and estimated about where I'd want the straps to sit, and sewed on the buttons on each side, so that it could be reversible.

Here's the finished product.

I think it turned out great, especially considering it was my learning project and I basically had no idea what I was doing.

The next ones I made were different. Instead of being for a spring baby in Wyoming, they were for July babies in Salt Lake. A little bit of a temperature difference there. This called for a redesign of sorts. Now that I knew the basics and what I liked and disliked about my first one, the possibilities seemed endless.

I used lightweight fabrics this time and instead of making it so small, I made it basically the length and width of one yard of fabric. I cut about 6 inches off lengthwise to use for making straps.

I rounded the corners but this time I got smart and used a solid plate instead of a floppy plastic bowl. The corners ended up all even and beautiful.

I also learned that an even easier way of achieving this is to fold the fabric into quarters, so you only make one cut and they're all the same. Live and learn.

So once the corners are cut and everything is in line, I tried my hand at adding a super cute ruffle. Seeing as how it was for a baby girl, there were a lot of cutesy embellishments I wanted to add, but I figured I'd start small.

The fabric was right-sides together, so I slipped the trim in between the two and pinned it down.

Looking back, it would have been easier and perhaps faster to baste it onto the edge of one fabric first, just to make sure it was all secure, but this worked too.

Again, live and learn.

Lots and lots of pinning...

I overlapped the ends of the trim and luckily it blended really well.

I then sewed the two pieces of fabric, right sides together, and left a 16" opening between two corners for turning.

I then turned it right-side out and pressed it.

I added a decorative stitch along the outside edge to secure everything and make it look beautiful.

Once the edge was done, I ran a diagonal stitch from corner to corner, just to make sure the two sides didn't separate and get all weird.

It was important to me that these be reversible as well, but this time I decided to try velcro instead of buttons. I sewed it onto each side, about 12" from either side and about 16" from the top.

I then made some straps. I cut two pieces from each fabric that were about 3" x 9". I sewed one of each fabric, right sides together, and left a small section so I could turn them. I turned them and pressed them and top stitched around the edges, making sure to close all the seams.

I then sewed on the velcro and to make it work so the straps were reversible too, I sewed a piece on each end of each side. See what I mean?

It's kind of like a velcro sammich. 4 pieces of velcro, all lined up, plus the one already on the canopy itself. So 5 pieces of velcro per strap. Make sure you get the soft sides and scratchy sides all lined up how they need to be so they'll stick to each other.

And being for a girl, I had to add some fun accessories. So I made some flowers and added both a safety pin and hair clip on the back, so they could be either pinned on the canopy or used on a headband.

This one was made exactly the same, except for a baby boy. His mama is super classy and contemporary, and this fabric seemed to call out to me...even if it has flowers on it.

Instead of a ruffle trim I just used double fold bias tape, which looked really awesome. It added just enough without sissifying it.

When I topstitched it, instead of going corned to corner, I went down the middle, in a sort of cross. It looked nice as well, and went along with the stripes.

The next one I made was done in the same fashion. I made it for a friend of my husband's, who had just had their first boy after 3 girls. So it had to be especially boyish fabric. I adore this fabric so very much! It was perfect.

I used single fold bias tape as a trim and it turned out great. I did baste it right onto the fabric before sewing both sides together and it worked out marvelously.

The straps were a little different on this one. Instead of making two straps and having them be reversible, I made four straps and attached them permanently to each side.

I added a button and buttonhole to each strap and then sewed the two straps themselves onto either side, making sure to sew them in the same place on either side.

The final one I made was, of course, for my own baby girl. I had a really hard time picking out the perfect fabric for her, but I really adore how it came out.

The only changes I made were adding ric-rack as a border.

I found a great tutorial here on how to sew the ric-rack on and it worked perfectly!

I did the straps the same as the robot one, except I used velcro instead of buttons.

And of course, I had to make some flowers to accessorize, although bows would have been super cute as well.

These are fun little projects that seriously can be whipped up in an afternoon. They make amazing gifts and are so easily personalized. The accessories and embellishments have endless possibilities. So have fun and use your imagination! I've seen so so many of these around and on the internet and it's so fun to see all the different ways they can be made.

Latest Project.

2011-06-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

Oh, I forgot to mention that project I'd been working on for the past 9 months is finally finished.

Please meet Amelia Elaine.

Born June 11, weighing 8 lbs 10 oz.

One of the best thing I ever made!!!

Vintage Baby

2011-03-26T21:19:00.001-07:00

I was going through my pattern collection looking for baby stuff and I came across this little gem.

Methinks this was my Gramma’s, it’s got a copyright of 1970 and most of the pieces were cut out, indicating they’ve been used before. I love the thought of my Gramma lovingly making her babies clothes. And the fact that I get to use the very same pattern to make my baby something is just heartwarming to me.

I have found that little baby dressed require such a small amount of fabric! I went through all my scraps from over the years and, much to my excitement, found a whole bunch of possibilities. So many, in fact, that I ran out of patterns.

So I made two of the same dress out of different fabrics.

And I’m so so glad I did because the look completely different!

The first one was made with scraps from a maternity dress I made with my first baby.

Please disregard the large amounts of baby going on here. I was 8 months pregnant.

Also please disregard the large amounts of weird faces I’m making.

**Note to self: Start looking normal for pictures.

So the moral of the story here is the dress is made out of a beautiful linen. And I had JUST enough to make this:

The pictures don’t do it justice in my opinion. You should see it in real life.

And know what else? I think I see a pair of ruffle butt panties in it’s future…

The other one was made from the scraps of another dress I made myself back in 2007 for a friend’s wedding. I don’t have any pictures of me in said dress, which is a shame because I think it’s darling. But here’s the fabric

And, again, I had barely enough to make Baby Girl this:

It’s probably my favorite. It’s just so yummy! I can’t even handle it!

And so the moral of the story here is always save your scraps because look how much cuteness can come out of it!!

Ruffle Butt

2011-03-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

I found a pattern for diaper covers over at Made and decided that I must own a few pairs. Especially after making the yummy dress I made yesterday.

Dana's got a free pattern and tutorial which is awesome.

I basically followed her instructions to the letter and ended up with this

Um hi. Can you say adorable?!

I did, however, add something very, very important.

Ruffle butt.

Yes, I know.

Every little girl needs to have some ruffle bottomed pants.

Or, in this case, panties.

Here's what I did:

I cut a whole bunch of strips that were 1 1/2" wide out of scraps. Some were long, some were short. I figured it didn't really matter since they would be all bunched up.

Then I cut out the pattern, found here.

I took the back and measured across the fullest part, about 1 inch down from the top.

And then made a long strip that would go about 3 times across it.

Then I pressed the seams down and trimmed them with my pinking shears.

I then decided to just use the pinking shears all the way down the length of the strip.

The better and probably more attractive way of doing this would be to use a serger and edge finish the strips.

My serger and I are not on speaking terms at the moment.

Hence the pinking.

I just barely did it along the edge as not to lose a lot of width.

And it made a pretty mess for me to clean up.

But it's pink so it's not all bad, right?!

I then ran a gathering stitch down the middle of the strip.

And then gathered the crap out of it!

I didn't worry about finishing the edges because they would be encased in the seams.

But I imagine it would be a good thing to do if you were to be adding ruffles to pants or pre-made panties.

Anway I then laid the ruffle across the back of the diaper cover and pinned in place.

I used a tiny stitch to make sure it was good and secure.

And repeat.

4 times.

And then I followed Dana's instructions from there.

I did, however, use bias tape when making the elastic casing around the leg, just to make sure the ruffles didn't get in the way of sliding the elastic through.

And there you have it.

Adorable little girly underthings!

I don't have a model yet, so this will have to do.

Oh alright. Just for fun...

I have no words. I am just so dang excited to have this baby girl!!

Itty Bitty Baby Dress

2011-03-23T22:33:00.001-07:00

I have a problem. It’s a big one too.

I have been surrounded by nothin’ but boys all my life.

3 brothers, then a husband, then 2 sons.

So you could say I’ve pretty much got a handle on the whole male situation.

Well, now that Little Miss is on the way, well, a crapload of opportunity has opened up for me.

No seriously.

Headbands, bows, flower clips, dresses, pink stuff.

And it’s everywhere!

And I can not control myself!!

It’s all so adorable and yummy!

So prepare yourselves, friends, for a rapid-fire of girly goodness coming right at ya!

It all started with the quilt.

Remember??

And now I’ve made a dress.

Not only a dress, but a tiny dress.

Teeny tiny adorable dress.

Have you ever been to Made By Rae?

Go there.

Now.

She has a FREE pattern for said itty bitty dress.

And also a ton of pictures and cuteness.

And it was so easy!

I made it in less than an hour, start to finish.

Ridiculous.

Okay enough talk.

Wanna see it??!?!?

**SQQQEEEAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!**

No really, it’s pretty stinkin’ cute.

The pattern calls for 1/2 yd of fabric, but I had 1/4 yd of this adorable Hello Kitty stuff that I bought recently just because I couldn’t resist the cuteness.

(See, I told you I have a problem!)

So I used a pink I had for the lining and made it a little shorter than the pattern.

Which is alright because my next project is gonna be an adorable pair of ruffle bottomed bloomers to go underneath.

Just try and resist snuggling a little baby in this dress!!

THANKS SO MUCH TO RAE FOR THE AMAZING PATTERN!!! YOU ROCK!!!

(Also pretty sweet name, don’t you think? )

Baby Quilt

2011-02-20T19:34:00.000-08:00

I saw this quite a while ago and fell in love with it! And I put it in my "bank" of things I wanna make someday...

{source}

And then we found out I'm having a girl and a whole world of opportunity opened up for me!

And the first thing I had to make was this quilt.

I couldn't get it out of my head.

So I went fabric shopping and came up with this:

I basically followed her tutorial fairly closely.

I obviously used different fabric.

I cut the letters out using my Silhouette, which was AMAZING! Saved me so much time! I really heart that little machine.

And changed the word "play" to "poop" because, come on! We all know that's whats REALLY going on.

And I used black thread to zig zag stitch around the words. I love how they kinds of pop.

I simply quilted diagonal lines across the thing, since I didn't really want to hand quilt anything and don't own a super fantastic quilting machine.

I basically love everything about this little quilt and can't wait to let my little belly snuggle with it...or on it...or whatever.

So a HUGE thanks to Vanessa from V and Co for this amazing idea and tutorial.

And expect a lot more of where this came from!
I'm not due until June!

And there's a WHOLE lotta ideas out there for little girls...

I CAN"T WAIT!!!

Candy Bottles

2011-02-16T09:26:00.000-08:00

I was up home at my parent's house and Valentine's Day was fast approaching. I saw this post and thought it was an awesome idea to make for them.

I had no supplies so I had to go shopping at the limited stores over there, but I think I made it work.

So here's the before:

And here's the final product:

It was really fun trying to make this and make it work with what I had.

I spray painted the case, inside and out. Then I decorated the CRAP out of it!

I cut labels for each bottle out of black paper and then used ribbon and felt to decorate them.

I chose three snacks for my mom, and three for my dad, as so indicated by the black and pink ribbons.

I tried to think of cute little sayings to go with each snack.

All in all it was a super fun idea! And a blast to make.

The only downside was trying to drink all the soda that came in the bottles...

A perfect idea for someone who's hard to buy for. And it doesn't just have to be for Valentine's Day! This would work for a birthday, maybe even Father's Day! The possibilities are endless!!

So thanks again to Becca over at Nap Time Journal for the super fantastic idea! If you haven't been to her blog, stop what you're doing right now and go! She's awesome.

Valentine’s Day Wreath

2011-02-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was browsing through one of my favorite blogs and saw this little beauty.

{source}

And I decided it might be a fun little project.

Plus my door has been looking a little naked since I took down my autumn wreath.

I know, I need a Christmas wreath.

All in good time.

ANYWAY, so I went to the dollar store and found a floral form.

And went to Wal-mart and bought some $1 Valentine’s Day ribbon. And I wrapped it around the form and hot glued the ends down.

Then I took some cupcake liners and went crazy!

FYI: IMPOSSIBLE to find cute cupcake liners in a small town. I made due with what I could get my hands on.

I followed her directions pretty closely and worked in sections. Instead of bunching then up, though, I sort of wrapped the liners around a chopstick (See that green stick in the background?) and then pressed it into a dab of hot glue. I found it a lot less brutal on my poor burnt fingers. Plus I could press the liner slightly into the form, which kind of gave it a more secure feel.

And I just worked my way around. I also put them on the outside of the form, which makes it nice and puffy.

Then I sprayed some adhesive on the liners and poured a whole bunch of red glitter all over the thing. It was magical.

I then made a sort of flower out of a couple liners and glued it on. Then I tied a bow out of some thin ribbon and glued it in the center of the flower.

I glued some ribbon across the back and tied it in a bow and hung it on the door.

I think it turned out super cute, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the liners I got. Fun colors and a fast little project.

A huge thanks to Jen over at Tatertots and Jello for this super fun project! She’s pretty awesome, just so ya know.

Seven Layer Dip

2010-10-29T00:07:00.000-07:00

Here's my go-to recipe for yummy 7 layered goodness.

On the bottom of a 13x9 Pyrex dish, spread a can of refried beans or bean dip.

Next, mix 1 pkg taco seasoning with a 16 oz container of sour cream. Spread over beans.

Next, spread a layer of guacamole.

Then top with cheese, lots and lots of shredded cheese.

Then, in no particular order, layer tomatoes, olives, and green onions.

Then try not to eat the whole pan in one sitting.

Or turn it all into a fun Jack O'Lantern face for Halloween.

Whatever.

How To Use 50+ Apples

2010-10-04T22:23:00.001-07:00

The carnage was everywhere.

My kitchen has still not fully recovered.

But I put up 6 quarts of apple pie filling and 6 pints of applesauce.

I just love how yellow and cheery these little jars of happiness are!

To make the pie filling, I used this recipe. And I added more cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and allspice, just to taste.

To make the applesauce:

I peeled most of the apples.

I cored them and cut them with an apple slicer, into 8 pieces.

I put them in about 4 cups of water.

I boiled them and boiled them and boiled them until they were super mushy.

I picked some of the skins out and then decided to give up on that.

I pureed them in my food processor.

I added some ascorbic acid to aid in the yellowness.

That's it. No sugar, no cinnamon. It is pure deliciousness.

Yum yum!

I made jar tags and printed them on sticker paper.

TADA!

Yummy, I can’t wait to make some apple crisp on a cold day!

Bikini Bread

2010-09-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Ah sweet deliciousness! I was jealous of everyone's zucchini abundance, so I went to the store and bought some. Bikini (banana-zucchini, get it?) bread is my most favorite treat. And since I'm on the cursed diet, I can't have a lot of treats. So here's the recipe I use, feel free to alter it to fit your needs and desires. I'm sure chocolate chips would be fantastic in it, but you know, I'm just sayin...

BIKINI BREAD
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups splenda
1 cup applesauce (or oil)
1 cup dry milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbps vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
31/2 cups wheat flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups mashed bananas
1 tsp lemon juice

Grease 2 9"x5"x3" loaf pans (I ended up using 3). In a bowl, combine eggs, splenda, oil, milk, baking soda and vanilla. Stir in zucchini and mix well. In a seperate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add to zucchini mixture and mix well. Add bananas and lemon juice and mix some more. Dived into pans and bake at 350 f for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (I sprinkled some wheat germ on mine before I put them in the oven, you know, just for good measure.)

It's super yummy, you won't regret it!!

It seriously doesn't last long around here, seeing as how I baked these at midnight last night and this picture was taken at, uh, 10 am...

Just Somethin’ I Whipped Up

2010-08-20T21:40:00.001-07:00

I was in DESPERATE need of a tablecloth.

I LOVE my table. She’s a real beauty. She’s a 54'” square with a built-in leaf, so when the leaf it not up, the size is 54” by 36”.

I bring this up because, apparently, this is an odd size table. Who knew?! I have had the hardest time finding the correct size. they are either WAY to big or not the right shape or hang off beautifully down one side and barely reach on the other. It’s been a nightmare to say the least.

I went to Wal-Mart *HOPING* to find some miracle tablecloth, but alas, all I could find was this lovely:

Not bad, right? No, well, no but come on! 60'”x84”?! Apparently no one has informed Wal-Mart of my oddly shaped table and need to NOT have two feet hanging off either edge just waiting for Tarzan and George of the Jungle to take a swing on. Yes, it’s happened more than I’d like to admit.

I was about to hang my head in sadness and defeat when an idea struck my little brain. I walked over to the bedding area. (Sound the heavenly angel choir) Flat sheets. $3. Any color I wanted.

I bought a cutie, drove her home and pressed all the creases out. Wouldn’t you know it, by cutting a twin sheet in half, I would have two, count ‘em TWO tablecloths! YIPEE!!

So I did a sweet little narrow hem on both of them and now TADA!!

Sorry, Tarzan! No swingin’ today!

Look at the cute little decorative border! Added bonus I suppose!

So pretty. And I mean, come on! It’s just something that's going to get dirty, it’s obviously not for my fine dining, but for $1.50 a piece, you just can’t beat that! Start to finish, took about 40 minutes for both.

AwEsOmE!

Silhouette Love

2010-08-07T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hey! You all know how much I want one of these bad boys, right?

So I just found out about another giveaway! Over at SugarDoodle!
So go over there right now and enter to win one too!
But hurry because I think it ends today!
Good luck!
And if you win, I will be over to use it as soon as it arrives! :)

Facelift

2010-07-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

I've been redesigning some stuff around here.

What do ya think?

New name.

New look.

Please forgive me if some of my previous post look a little, uh, skiwampus.

I changes my layout too.

So until I can get home to fix them, they look no bueno.

Don't judge me by how they look because, uh, sad.

But I'm excited about the new me.

Look out blog world!

Here I come!

Well, here I re-come...

...or come again...

...oh you know what I mean!

American Baby

2010-06-30T16:06:00.001-07:00

(Photo courtesy of Love Stitched)

Um hello.

Can you say cute?

Do you love America?

Do you not love this little cutie?!?!

I saw this picture and was so struck by it’s adorableness, I decided these shirts would make my boys look, hopefully, just as cute for the 4th.

Aww, matching “his” and “his” cuteness.

These were a snap to make, thanks to the amazing step by step tutorial by Cheri at I am Momma Hear Me Roar, found here and here.

Seriously, awesome. I can’t wait.

Thanks Cheri! You’re awesome!!

Only In America

2010-06-30T14:08:00.001-07:00

That’s right, I made something else for the 4th. I can’t control myself, it’s becoming a sickness…

I was wandering through Melanie’s blog, The Crafty Cupboard, the other day and came upon this.

(photo from Melanie’s blog The Crafty Cupboard)

Could you just die?! I know!! It’s so dang cute!!

And I knew I must have one for my very own.

So it was off the the fabric store, unfortunately known as Wal-mart.

Let’s just say her fabrics are WAAAY cuter than mine.

But I think it turned out alright, considering what I had to work with. (boo)

She has a template posted on her blog here.

It’s a lot like the birthday banner I made a few months ago.

Only smaller. And it came together a lot faster.

I used 1/2 yard of white, and 1/4 yard each of four printed fabrics of red and blue.

I also used a sheet of blue felt and a sheet of red felt and cut out little stars.

And two packages of double fold bias tape.

I made one small one with 12 pennants on it and a large one with eighteen.

It’s cute and adds a lot to the room!

So a big thanks to Melanie and her super cute blog for inspiring me and making it more festive around here.

Her blog, by the way, you should definitely go check out. She’s got some awesome stuff on there!!

**I went to the other craft store yesterday, which is usually waay too expensive to buy anything and they had all their 4th of July stuff 25% off…and they had some darling fabrics…but I was already halfway done with this project…dang it.

Party In The USA

2010-06-28T18:45:00.001-07:00

I saw this last spring and really loved it.

(photo from Linda’s blog, Craftaholics Anonymous)

Um, hi, can you say so so stinkin adorable?!?! I loved it.

I, however, had just finished making my spring wreath.

Boo. So I decided to put it on the back burner...until I had the idea to make a festive 4th of July wreath instead.

I basically love it. I followed Linda’s tutorial for the most part, which is fantastic by the way.

I did make a few changes.

Here’s what I did.

Linda used felt. Walmart basically sucks noodles and didn’t have ANY blue felt.

So I decided to improvise and use ribbon.

I gathered all the red, white, and blue ribbon and buttons I could find. And I bought a wreath.

Then I followed Linda’s instructions for making the flowers.

Just make loops and then fold the ribbon at an angle and put a little hot glue to hold it. The angle you fold makes all the difference, as you might see with some of my flowers. It took me a minute to figure out how to make them all the same.

I ran out of ribbon while making this flower

So I just glued the start of new ribbon where it left off and kept going.

I had fun figuring out how to make different shapes and loops and little ones and big ones.

I love this little guy.

And this one’s a star. Cute cute cute!!

Then I just glued them onto the wreath and fastened a ribbon on with more hot glue.

I think it turned out perfectly!

Festive and oh so cute!

And fairly simple. It took me an hour, start to finish.

It was a naptime masterpiece!!

There I am in the reflection. Nice.

Thank you, Linda! You rock!!!

Another Use For Snappies

2010-06-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Remember the invasion of the Snappies?
I have defeated them.

Victory is mine…

Silhouette Madness!

2010-06-26T15:51:00.001-07:00

So do you know what a Silhouette is?

No?!

Okay, first off, go here and see the machine that will make all your dreams will come true.

Well, your crafty dreams anyway.

For real, I want one of these bad boys…I want one REAL bad!

Seriously, all the stuff you can do?!?! Vinyl, scrapbooking, heat transfers for clothing.

SERIOUSLY.MUST.HAVE.ONE.

Want one too?

Well you are in luck because there are a plethora of blogs right now offering giveaways for a Silhouette of your very own!

Or my own…

Here’s the list:

Southern Hospitality’s runs for a week, not 100% on when it ends for sure. Go here to enter.

Oh Hello Friend’s runs until June 28th. Go here to enter.

Tatertots and Jello’s runs until June 29. Go here to enter.

Thrifty Decor Chic has a giveaway going on until June 29th as well. Go here to enter.

TomKat Studio will be running her giveaway until June 30th. Go here to enter.

Giver’s Log runs until June 30th as well. Go here to give it a shot.

**UPDATED**

Just A Girl will announce the winner on July 2. Go here to enter.

So go try for one! Seriously, it’s an amazing little toy!

I hope I win one.

And if I don’t, I hope you do!

And that you’ll let me use it!

PS Thanks to HowDoesShe? for letting me in on the secret! :)

Check Me Out!

2010-06-18T00:56:00.000-07:00

My Ian's Mod Monkey birthday party ideas were featured on Tip Junkie!
Go check it out!
I'm super excited about it.
And I love my baby.
Because he is adorable.
Thanks Lauire!
You rock!!

Baby Shower Countdown

2010-06-07T22:01:00.001-07:00

I’ve been up to my old tricks again.

Except this time I bought a score blade for my cutter and it seriously cut my time in half!

No pun intended.

Oh and I added a little blue and brown into the mix.

That’s right. We’s gonna have us a double shower!

I’m pretty sure it’s going to be the greatest shower of all time.

Judging by these here invites, boy, it’s gonna blow your minds!

More to come… I know you’re on the edge of your seats

Cute Cute Giveaway

2010-05-14T17:31:00.000-07:00

So I stumbled upon the cutest dang blog today and I think you should go there. She is have a giveaway for a DARLING runner that for real, is so stinkin cute I almost died! Well, not DIED died, but still pretty darn cute. Go here. You won't regret it.

Mod Monkey Birthday: Go time!

2010-05-04T16:44:00.001-07:00

The cake!

I got a template here.

The party was a success! It was amazing! To get the full rundown, go here.

Baby Whoo! Quilt

2010-04-29T13:14:00.001-07:00

When Izacc turned one, I made him a blanket. Nothing too spectacular, but a blanket that he loves. So it gave me the perfect excuse to buy (and make) the quilt pattern I’d been drooling over!

The Material Girls Quilts. Ever heard of them? Funny story. When I worked at the salon in South Jordan, Material Girls opened up next to us. It was a new development, not a lot of traffic. Stores would come and go. In fact, my salon even left. Not enough revenue. Anyway, I can remember thinking that there is no way a fabric shop would be able to make it here! With the 4 other shops that closed right next to them , it was just a matter of time. Well let me tell you, I was so very very wrong! They are amazing! The moved across the complex into a much bigger store and they’re doing fabulously from what I can tell. Every time I’ve gone in there they were super busy! I’m so proud. (tear)

Anyway, that’s where I got the pattern.

Adorable, no?

I love it. Here’s mine.

I love how it turned out! I love the giant rickrack. I love everything about it!

I did end up extending it about 14 inches to be a full size baby quilt.

What do you think? I know you want one too!

Mod Monkey Party!

2010-04-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few odds and ends in preparation of the big day! It’s coming up fast!

Birthday Crown

I just took a Burger King crown and covered the jewels with monkeys and dots, and the Burger King logo with a “the big 1” sign. Cheap, easy, just the way I like it!

Door Sign

Just a little something to welcome our guests at the door.

Cups and labels

We’re having a Banana split/sundae bar! So we’ve got to have a lot of options, right? I went to Coldstone and bought a bunch of cups in all sizes and covered them with paper and dots and monkey and voila! We’re ready to go!

Doorway Decoration

I took some ribbon I had and hot glued foam circles onto it. Then I glued them to a ribbon on top to secure them together.

I love this! I got the idea from HowDoesShe? and I think it adds so much to a room! PLUS you could use it for a doorway hanger or a background for pictures or just to add color to a wall! The possibilities are endless!

It’s all coming together! There’s so much more to come!!

Mod MonkeyTheme: Pin The Tail On The Monkey

2010-04-29T11:07:00.001-07:00

In planning Ian’s birthday party, I got to thinking that there will be a few kids coming that are a bit older than Ian. I thought some games would be nice, even though Ian couldn’t play. So I made a pin the tail one the monkey game!

I found a picture of a monkey that I really liked. In reality, it was on Ian’s pajamas. So I scanned it into my computer.

I zoomed in as far as I could go and printed it out. It was in pieces and parts of it weren’t there, but it’s easy enough I could read between the lines.

Then I took the leftover felt from my birthday banner and using what I printed, cut his little body out.

Then I took some tan felt and cut out his ears, tummy and face.

I then drew eyes, nose and mouth on with a fabric pen.

Then I used my sewing machine and zig-zag stitched his tan parts onto his brown parts. Then all of him into a blue piece of felt.

Then I made a yellow felt boarder and sewed it on, making a casting at the top I can slide a dowel through to hang him up.

Then I made a bunch of curly tails and hot glued some Velcro dots onto the backs. The hard side, not the soft…does that make sense?

I think he’s cute! I love him. Hopefully the kids will love him too!

Mod Monkey Attire

2010-04-29T01:38:00.001-07:00

I wanted Ian to have a special birthday outfit, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I thought about appliqués and I saw some really sweet personalized Onesies online. I figured that would probably be the way to go. So I did some designing and made some Onesies. I had to test it out before I made the official shirt, so I made these.

I think they turned out darling! And here is the OFFICIAL BABY BIRTHDAY SHIRT:

Can I just say I am loving the whole Mod Monkey theme?! I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to keep my house decorated with it for awhile…okay maybe not. But it’s still cute!

I also decided that I wanted to fit in with the whole monkey movement, so I whipped up a little something for myself.

I know, it’s been a year and there’s still baby chub on there. Pay no attention to that!

I used a pattern I got at JoAnn’s for a buck. It’s not my favorite, but all the other apron patterns were gone. Are you kidding?! At $.99 I’m lucky I got one at all! Still, I think it turned out pretty cute and I love the fabric. Come on! Does it get more Camie than this?!

I think not!

And sibling rivalry doesn’t exist in this house. Nope. Not one bit! My oldest child was not super dooper jealous of all the attention and preparations being made for his baby brother’s party. No. He didn’t try to squeeze his way into one of the Onesies I made. Not a chance.

Okay, can you sense the sarcasm here?

So I made him a shirt of his very own.

Birthday Banner Tutorial

2010-04-28T23:48:00.001-07:00

You know those cheap “Happy Birthday” banners? You know the ones They are made of paper and each letter is connected to one other with a brad? And they rip and tear as you take them out of the little plastic wrapping and you have to tape them before you even have the chance to hang them up?

Yeah. I’m through with those.

I saw an adorable idea here and just had to make one for myself!

Here’s how I did it:

I bought a bunch of fat quarters, twelve to be exact. (5 girly prints, 7 manly-ish ones) I really could have done it with fewer, but I wanted to have more of a variety of fabric.

Then I cut a pattern… or template. Whatever you want to call it. I just folded a piece of plain white paper in half lengthwise. Then I used a straight edge and drew a line from the upper edge to the fold.

Then I cut it and unfolded it and I had myself a pattern!

I then went to work cutting out triangles. I think I cut 28 out of the boy colors and 18 out of the girl colors.

I then went to my computer and found a font I liked. I enlarged it and printed out all the letters I would need. The font I used was Elephants in Cherry Trees which you can download for FREE here. Then I went to work. I traced them onto brown felt and cut out each letter. It really took about 2 hours, but it seemed like forever!

Then I used a roll of Heat and Bond and secured those bad boys on each triangle. The felt did really well. I only melted one piece when the iron got too hot!

Then I used my sewing machine and stitched around each letter. I just used a quick running stitch, nothing fancy. Then I matched each triangle with a back. I made it reversible, see, so it can be blue for a boy birthday and then pink for a girl birthday. (Seeing as I am currently the only female in the house, I get the pink side all to myself!) Anyway, to make it reversible, I matched the blue H with the pink Y, the blue A with the pink P, and so forth. I then, with right sides together, sewed the two side seams and left the top open.

Then I turned them all and pressed the crap out of them! I didn’t topstitch the edges or anything, although I think it might look nice as well.

Then I opened up some double fold bias tape and stitched the length, making sure to get each open end enclosed.

Tada! I love how it turned out! There is a banner for each family member, and I also have enough matching fabric leftover that when we add more babies, I can make more banners! Hopefully someday I’ll be able to share the pink side! :)

I’ve probably spent more on those lame banners in my lifetime than I spent making this one! And it’s gonna last a LONG time!!!

Thanks to See Mommy Sew for the fabulous idea! Ian’s birthday is gonna ROCK!!

Bad Day For Diets

2010-04-24T20:52:00.001-07:00

I made such a delicious and nutritious dinner tonight!

Okay, maybe not so nutritious, but oh so delicious!

Bubble Pizza

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 jar pizza sauce
2 tubes refrigerator biscuits
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brown beef and drain. Stir in pizza sauce and let it simmer. Cut the biscuits into quarters and place in a greased 13”x9” baking dish. Top with beef mixture and bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 400 F. Sprinkle with cheese and bake 5-10 minutes more until cheese is bubbly.

How do you say YUMMY?! The answer is Bubble Pizza. It really is so good and I’m sure you could add different toppings along with the beef, but we’re purists here.

I only made a half batch, since hubster is at work tonight. And as we were enjoying the deliciousness, a thought occurred to me.

What if I made the same thing only with cinnamon and sugar.

AND Cee Cee’s version of Monkey bread was born.

(Did I just sound like a Windows 7 commercial?)

Here is what I did.

Took the extra can of refrigerator biscuits and cut them into quarters, just like before. Then I rolled them in about 1/3 cup sugar and 1 TBSP cinnamon. I greased a 8”x8” pan and placed them in, much like the pizza. Then I took about 2 TBSP butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, some of my cinnamon/sugar mixture from before and a teaspoon or so of water and boiled it in the microwave. Then I poured it over the biscuits and bakes at 400 F for 18 minutes.

(How do I get the heavenly angel music to play?)

AHHHHHHH! So good. I know you want some. Come on over, hope there’s still some when you get here!

Cargo Bag

2010-04-24T20:30:00.001-07:00

I saw a couple adorable tutorials here and here and decided I just HAD to try it. And it turned out beautifully! I loves it!

I love you easy it was to put together. I love that it took less than an hour, start to finish. I love that it’s big enough to hold magazines and basically whatever I need.

Super sweet! Thanks to Anna at Noodleheads and Steffany at Out Of Chaos for the awesome tutorials and for inspiring me! Yay for fun stuff, right?!

Mod Monkey Envelopes: How To

2010-04-19T23:19:00.001-07:00

So I have the invites, now I need a clever way to mail them.
Have you price checked envelopes lately?
Yeah, a little ridiculous.
I thought about it and decided I could probably make my own.

I went to my friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart and bought a package of card stock for $3.95.

I pulled out the colors I wanted.
I folded them.I pressed them.I cropped them.I folded them again.
I cropped them again.I glued them.I stuffed them.I folded once more.I glued once more.I made a cute little seal to match.And Viola! I only used half of the package and looky! Awesome.
And cheap.
Which, as you know, is the best kind of awesome.

Mod Monkey Birthday Invitations

2010-04-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

My babe is turning one! The countdown has officially begun!

I found a theme that I simply adore called Mod Monkey.
You can find it here.

Since I am trying to be thrifty and stay on a budget, I tried my hand at graphic design. I used a brand new (to me) program to make some invitations and announcments. I think they turned out darling and were much cheaper than purchasing them already made.

For this one, I just Googled "Mod Monkey" and the invitation came up. I copied the design, but I have no idea who to credit it to! Sorry!

New Beginnings 2010

2010-04-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know. New Beginnings is supposed to happen at the beginning of the year. But our stake had a giant reorganization so after things settled down a little, we had ours on April 6th.

The mutual theme for this year is "Be Strong and of Good Courage" (Joshua 1:9) and I found an amazing program idea here. She has it all planned out, lined up and ready to go. I have to give her mad props because she helped us out so so much! THANK YOU, MELANIE, FOR SHARING YOUR AMAZING IDEAS!!!!

The theme was sort of Olympic centered. We had the Olympic theme song playing and all the girls came in wearing each value color. Our ward has very few Young Women, so we used each and every one who came and even a visitor!

I made a torch using a flashlight and can light gels, although I’m sure you could use anything. On the blog, she suggests using tissue paper. Then I took a piece of brownish 12x12 paper and rolled it to make a casing. I dropped the flashlight into it and there we had a torch! I didn’t get a really good picture of it, but here I am holding it… I think it turned out well. I also think I am a giant dork.

For the metals, I wanted them to look nice but my resources here were very limited. So I did what I could and it was a lot of work, but I am very happy with how they came out!

I went to the hardware store and bought some big washers. Then I measured them and added a little extra around the edges so I could wrap the paper over the washer. So I cut all the paper.

Then I wrinkled all the circles up so the paper was a little more manageable and pliable.

Then I centered the washer on the paper circle

And hot glued the paper down all the way around the washer.

Then I printed “Be strong and of a good courage” onto the same paper and cut out those circles. I Mod Podged those babies on there and it gave them a little sheen.

Then I took my dollar store metals, took the ribbon off (they came with red, white, and blue ribbon) and glued them onto the back of the washers. It gave them a little more weight and also a place for me to thread all the ribbons through.

Then I took a ribbon from each value and threaded it through the hole, along with the original ribbon that came with the metals. It worked out well that I didn’t have to buy red, white or blue ribbon because it was already on there!

They were a lot of work and I’m sure there is an easier way! But I think they worked and looked quite nice.

I also made fruit pizza and it was so so so yummy! I didn’t get a picture before it was devoured, but take my word for it! It was beautiful!

Fruit Pizza Recipe

Crust: (I used my favorite sugar cookie recipe, found here.)

Blend together until smooth:
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Cup melted Butter
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
Combined in separate bowl:
5 Cups Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined. Make a ball out of the dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge 2-3 hours or until firm. I made mine the night before. Roll it out to fit pan size, not too thick. I was able to make 2 pizzas, one on a cookie sheet and one on a pizza pan. Bake @ 375 for 15-20 min. You want them just slightly golden brown to make sure the middle is done. Let cool.

topping:

1 package cream cheese

1 12 oz package Cool Whip

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Blend until smooth. Spread over pizzas when cool. Then arrange fruit on top. I used strawberries, mandarin oranges, bananas, pineapple, blueberries and apples. Mmmm.

All in all, it was a successful evening! Thanks again to Melanie over at her blog! You are a lifesaver!

Loverly Spring Wreath

2010-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

I am so stinking sick of this weather! Sheesh already isn’t it supposed to be spring?!

Well, to maybe push Mother Nature in the right direction, I made a happy spring wreath for our front door.

Is cute, no?

It was a snap to make. I just bought a wreath form from the dollar store and wrapped it with ribbon.

Then I glued a whole lotta daisies all around and tada! Cute spring inspiring happiness!

If that doesn’t get Mother Nature’s attention, nothing will. Those are some bright and happy flowers!

Well, here’s hoping spring will be here soon…

My Version of Baby Legs

2010-02-27T15:57:00.001-08:00

Baby Legs. Ever heard of them? Super cute, a brilliant idea if you ask me. I always wanted to get some for Izacc, but couldn’t ever get past the price. I mean, it’s not that they’re super expensive, but you don’t want to have only one pair, know what I mean? So I never bought any. Here comes Ian and he’s started crawling all around the joint! I need some Baby Legs and I need ‘em now!

I was wandering around Wal-Mart the other day ( I know, it’s like I live there or something) and had an epiphany right there in the women’s hosiery isle.

What if I took this

And turned it into this!

And it worked!

Here’s how I made it happen:

Get some knee highs. They don’t really make them for men and most of the women’s were pretty girly. My options were brown or black.

Cut them off at right about the ankle.

You can measure your baby’s legs to see what length you’ll need, but I figured he’s going to grow into them if they’re too long. (They were just right in case you were wondering. As if I could make anything too big for my giant manbaby)

I got this at Walmart for $1.38. A little goes a long way. I just hand wound my bobbin with it, fairly loosely.

Roll up edge to form cuff. I rolled it twice on one pair to give it more of a cuff look, but once works well too.

Stitch and enjoy. I didn’t stretch the sock as I sewed and they turned out fantastic!

Pretty close to the real thing if you ask me. And for much, much less!

They also work well as arm warmers. In reality, Izacc likes to wear them on his arms under t-shirts, but nekkid works too.

And just what do you do with the leftover sock bits?

I’m so glad you asked.

You make puppets of course!

A puppy,

This is Susan

A lion

And, of course, this is Herkey.

See what $6.38 can buy you!?

Neighbor Gifts

2010-02-23T00:34:00.000-08:00

Picture it. West Jordan, Utah, 2006. We had just had our first baby in August and I was staying at home with him on FMLA leave. It was Christmas and I ~~was incredibly bored~~ wanted to be generous to all our friends and neighbors, so that year I made “Gifts from a Jar”.

Seemed simple enough, and so easy, WAY easier than making cookies, that’s for sure! I spent about a week lovingly measuring the ingredients, making them beautiful, taking far too many trips to Sam’s Club to acquire ingredients in bulk, and then for that extra special touch, vacuuming sealing them with our food saver. I mean, who wants stale cookies, right?

Oh and I had to have a variety! I made soups, brownies, cookies, quick breads, you name it. There were about 10 different recipe mixes made, to the tune of 80 jars. (No we are NOT that popular, my hubby used to work for KSL and there are a lot of people who work there who were “friends”.)

The next year, we were living in Wyoming and our new friends and neighbors did not know the wonder that indeed was “Gifts From A Jar”, so again, I went to work making the jars. I wanted to simplify it this year so I only made 60 or so and only 8 varieties this time. (See? MUCH simpler.) I spent my days with a funnel, a bag of flour, and a mantra of “This is so much easier than making cookies! It is so much cheaper! People will really enjoy these! If I have to stuff one more jar full of sugar and baking powder, I might give myself a frontal lobotomy with this here funnel.”

Needless to say, the next Christmas, jars were a no go. I thought I would save a crap load of money and just make goodies. After all, anything was better than stuffing jars with chocolate chips and brown sugar.

So I did THIS

”What can I say? I’m a slow learner.

In my defense, I was pregnant and nesting, and my other baby was with my parents, so I had A LOT of free time on my hands.

It is not an exaggeration to say I was 100% burnt out on neighbor gifts this year.

So here’s what I did.

I went to the Dollar Store and bout a bunch of wooden spoons. Used some leftover Christmas fabric from doing the jars, wrapped it around the handle, and Mod Podged those puppies right on there. After it dried, I tied a bow on. Cute, right?

Then I printed out some labels that said, “ We could all use a little extra ‘dough’ this time of year” and glued little bows in the corners.

Then I made bows with wider ribbon and a twist tie, punched a hole in a package of cookie dough, attached a little bag with a cookie cutter and some sugar sprinkles in it, and tied it to the spoon. (I know, I went bow crazy. I’m surrounded by boys, do you blame me? My femininity is being

crushed!)

I made a couple batches of brownies for people who I didn’t necessarily feel like making them make their own treats, i.e. my loveable elderly friend and a momma of 2 who just had another baby.

Their tags said “We’re going for ‘brownie’ points this season”

I know, I’m a cheese ball, but guess who didn’t go on a crazy killing spree with a funnel, a handful of waxed paper, and mason jar covered in flour? This mama, that’s who. Merry Christmas indeed!

Oreo Truffles

2010-02-22T13:26:00.000-08:00

Speaking of all thing yummy, these are my favorite!!

Oreo Truffles

1 pkg Oreos

1 8oz pkg cream cheese

chocolate for melting, dipping, drizzling, etc.

Put whole package of cookies into food processor, frosting and all. If you don’t have a food processor, you can crush them with a rolling pin in a large Zip-loc bag. Either way, get them crushed to a nice crumbly mixture.

Add cream cheese so crumbs and mix, again, either by hand or with mixer, it makes no difference.

Shape the dough into balls, about an inch. Chilling them works the best. I just put them in the freezer while I melt the chocolate.

Melt chocolate. Dip balls in chocolate. Try not to eat them as you take them out of the chocolate. Put them on waxed paper to cool.

I’m not kidding, these bad boys are so super delicious. I like to dip mine in white chocolate and then drizzle milk chocolate over them. You could dip them in milk chocolate and drizzle with white, or double dip in two different kinds of chocolate, or just sprinkle with nuts or sprinkles. Really, the possibilities are endless. Also, I think they would be yummy to make with mint Oreos and dip in chocolate, making kind of a grasshopper/thin mint flavor. Mmmm.

And, just an FYI, since they do have cream cheese in them, you’ll want to keep them refrigerated. What you DON’T want to do is leave a couple out in goodie bags that didn’t get delivered, go to your parent’s house for a week over Christmas, come back, see them, figure your house has been without heat and think just how delicious they are and then eat them, giving yourself a nasty case of food poisoning which will put you in bed for a day or so. I’m just saying.

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

2010-02-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

I saw a very yummy looking treat last Christmas here, who saw it here. I decided to make a couple batches and give out to friends and take a bunch home to my parent’s house for Christmas. 1 day after I got there, their neighbors brought over ANOTHER giant zip-loc bag of the stuff. Needless to say, we had it coming out our ears…and it was so super delicious!!

Peppermint Bark Popcorn

From Our Best Bites

16-20 C popped popcorn (fresh, or about 2 bags microwave popcorn)

1 lb Almond Bark

1 6oz box candy canes, crushed. (About 1-1 1/2 C total and Bob's are the best!)

2 tea. peppermint extract

3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Get two adorable assistants to aid you in all things,

including dropping marble rolling pin onto slate floor, creating a bad day.

Place popcorn in a very large mixing bowl.

Unwrap the candy canes and crush them. It is the most labor intensive step of this easy treat, so you can do that ahead of time if you want too. Our Best Bites advised putting the candy canes in a large zip-lock bag and have a whack with a heavy marble rolling pin. I tried this and was unsuccessful. So I took a meat tenderizer to them. That did the trick!

Once they're crushed, dump them into the bowl with the popcorn.

To melt the almond bark, follow the instructions on the package. I created a “double boiler” with a pot full of water and a bowl placed on top.

When your almond bark is melted, add the peppermint extract. It will seize a little bit (get kind of lumpy) but it's totally fine. Pour over popcorn and candy canes.

Stir it up really well until the candy is evenly distributed. Pour the popcorn out onto a piece of waxed paper, parchment, or foil. Spread it out into an even layer, or layers, as the case may be.

Take a chili break.

After chili is devoured, place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the popcorn. You can use a fork, or put it in a zip-lock bag with the corner cut off.

Leave it until the almond bark and the chocolate is hardened. If you need to hurry it up, they suggest to do this whole process on lined cookie sheets you can pop in the fridge.

When chocolate is hardened, use your hands to break up popcorn into chunks.

While you’re putting it into little zip-locs, so a funky little dance, look over to see your husband taking a picture of you and get really embarrassed.

Yeah, go ahead and leave that last step out.

I did find that the candy canes were pretty hard and gave you that “oh man I think I just chipped a tooth on a popcorn kernel” kind of feeling. What I liked better than the candy canes were those peppermint butter mints, you know the ones. Thy kind of dissolve in your mouth? Like wedding mints but they’re big and white and red? Yeah, those. Much yummy.

Kid’s Rag Quilts

2010-02-21T14:29:00.001-08:00

I was perusing the pattern section at Wally World and found this:

Whatever! Super cute! I had a ton of fabric stored that was collecting dust, so I decided to make a couple quilts for the boys. The colors were not exactly perfect, but I think they turned out alright.

The turtle is Ian’s. It’s really warm and snuggly, but we have hardwood floors and it works fabulously as a play mat.

They’re quite a bit larger than I expected, as you can see by the dwarfed giant baby in the corner. This on is my nephew’s. I actually had enough fabric to make as extra one! BONUS!!

Izacc can’t sleep without his.

These are the first quilts I’ve made using an official pattern. It was interesting and I think they turned out pretty cute.

Turn a pair of jeans into an apron…and on another note, some dishtowels

2010-02-19T14:59:00.000-08:00

I did a whole cooking theme for my sister-in-law’s Christmas present this past year. I remade an old family cookbook, got her some new recipes and a recipe holder, and made her an apron and some dish towels.

I found a pattern I loved. Simplicity 2682

All you need is a pair of jeans and some fabric to make a belt.

I think it turned out super dooper cute! I kinda wanted to keep it for myself!

Darling.

I saw a tutorial at See Mama Sew and had to make some. Her tutorial is perfect. Instead of using lots of fabrics, I just used the same fabric as the belt to make some dish towels.

See? Matchy matchy!

I thought they turned out fabulously. So much fun to make.

Easy Nursing Apron

2010-02-19T13:57:00.000-08:00

I own a nursing apron and it does a good job, except it’s small. My baby has no problem pulling it over and exposing all our bidnaz.

My dear friend recently had a baby girl and I thought she could use one.

I used the one I have as a basic pattern, only I made it a little longer and a lot wider.

It’s a very simple design.

Cut a piece of fabric the size you want the apron to be. Hem three of the sides.

Cut a small piece of fabric, about 2 1/2”x6 1/2”. Make a strap by sewing it right sides together and turning it right-side out.

Then fold it in half and sew two D-rings inside, like shown below.

Then make another strap, same width, but as long as you want it. Make it more of an elongated triangle, so one end is considerably smaller than the other.

Sew right sides together and turn.

Press the final side, about a half inch, cut a small piece of boning, place it in the middle of the edge. Sew the hem, enclosing the boning. Then sew on your two other straps on either side of the boning.

It turned out so cute I may just make one for myself!

Baby Learning Books

2010-02-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

I saw an adorable idea over at Lu Bird Baby and decided to make a couple for my favorite babies.

I used her ideas for pictures and took pictures around our house of familiar things. It was a lot of fun trying to find things to photograph. I then added numbers to the photos in Picasa.

I found some adorable paper at Roberts and made cute covers and title pages.

I bought a $1.00 photo album at Wal-mart, but it had quite a few more pages than her example.

SOOO…

I improvised.

Izacc and I scrambled around the house looking for items of the ten basic crayon colors. It was kind of a fun game for us to play and see how many things in each color we could find. I also had enough pages to add some familiar faces of Mom and Dad, Gramma and Papa, Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins, as well as the babies themselves.

(Its a good thing these kids are cousins, it made their books very similar and the personalized changes very simple)

Izacc helped so much that I figured we’d better make one for him as well. He’s so super smart and a little above learning his numbers. SO…

Let’s learn what the letter look like!

It was really a challenge to find something for every letter, but we got it done.

It was a fun and inexpensive project that the kids love.

If you’d like to make one for yourself, please feel free to use my pictures here.

There are obviously some you’ll want to personalize for yourself, unless, you know, you want a picture of my son and our dog. It’s really easy to take a picture and edit it in Picasa.

Have fun!

Prelude to a Valentine's Day

2010-02-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

In addition to the Christmas catch up posts that are on the way, here's a little sneak peek at the Valentine's Day goodies I've been working on.

All shall be revealed soon...

Thanks for sticking with me...

Baby Blankets

2010-02-01T00:27:00.000-08:00

I saw the aptly named "Stay 'N Play" blanket here and decided I knew a few deserving candidates.

So I made four.

They come together fairly easily and as long as you don't have any, erm, distractions, can be put together in a few hours!

I bought a couple different patterns of fabric and squared them to 37''.
Then I sewed four 2'' lengths of ribbon about 2''-5'' from the corners on the "top" fabric, and 1 ribbon length dead center on the "bottom"fabric.
I then placed the bottom fabric face down, then placed a layer of polar fleece, then added the top layer face up.
I pinned the layers and made my markings with a quilting pencil.

On this one, I stitched vertical lines 1 1/2'' apart. It took longer than I was prepared for, but looked so cute and puffy.

This one I stitched the lines 2" apart and it went a bit faster and looked just as puffy and cute.
On these, I did diagonal lines 2" apart. I really liked the way the diagonals looked and it was really fast sewing. If you're in a hurry, I would totally suggest doing diagonals.
I can't decide which way I like better. I'm thinking I want to make another one and do diagonals in both directions, making a diamond sort of pattern!

Then, after they were all sewn together, I trimmed the edges to make them even and sewed on a satin baby boarder.
That was it! Done!

I folded them up and then added a new linky toy.

I think my babe needs one, although, he is almost to the point where I would need to tether HIM down, not the toy! :)

Thanks again to Rebecca D over at Blue Cricket Design for the fabulous idea! You rock!!

My bad!

2010-01-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hey! I have a wonderful idea!
I'm going to get my butt in gear!
Sound good to you?
I have a whole lotta crafty love coming your way from the past few months!
I've been slacking on the posting, it's true!
But I will play catch-up and give you a little taste of whats been going on around here!
So look forward to that!
(I know you're on the edge of you seat.)

Thanks. Love you. Bye.

Christmas Gift Card Holders

2010-01-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

This is the post I was featured with over at Craftoholics Anonymous back in December.

Hey everyone, my name is Camie. I'm an out-of-work actress with a degree in cosmetology, but I moonlight as a stay-at-home Momma. I've got two of the cutest boys in the world making my life super full, but I sometimes find a little time to play around with crafty things. I've recently started a blog called Cee Cee's Dreams where I keep all my fun stuff. Feel free to check it out sometime!

Here are my handmade Christmas Girt Card holders.
These are super cute and fairly easy to make. They come together pretty fast, assuming you aren't making 25 of them...

Start off with a 12"x12" piece of double sided card stock. It can be the same color on both sides or two different designs, as pictured below.
Measure to the exact middle on each side, which should be 6", and mark lightly with a pencil.

Fold in half, meeting both edges in the middle, at the marks.
Fold it again the other way, creating a scored box in the middle.
Get a sturdy bowl the size of the folded paper, about 6". I say sturdy because I tried using an old plastic bowl and my circles, unbeknown to me, were not, how you say, congruent. So this nice, thick, strong Pyrex did the trick quite nicely. Trace the bowl from one fold to the other. You're going to want to open it up, fold it the other way, and do it again so all four edges outside the middle square have half circles on them.

When all the tracing is done, open it up and cut it out, following your markings.It should look like this when you're done.
Then get the paper you want for the backing of the card and cut it to fit the middle square. Mine were just shy of 6"x6". You want to make sure that you can fold the flaps down easily, so if it catches, trim it a little.

Once you have it the right size, use some adhesive and stick it down!

Then cut a smaller box out of another piece of card stock. I've used white, I think it is a nice canvas to play on. Next you want to get creative and add ribbon. You can use any thickness or feel you like, let you creative juices flow! Measure the lengths you want and I like to add a bow.
Use a credit card or key card for the placement or the ribbon. I tape the ribbon on the back, and then add a little adhesive to either side on the front, but be sure to leave enough ribbon free so you can slide the card in and out.
Add all the other ribbon in whatever design you like. It's really a lot of fun to play and see what looks good.
Use hot glue to adhere the bow onto the ribbon.
Then you'll want to adhere the card stock onto the card.
If you like, you can add a personal note using the scraps from cutting the edges. I usually do squares, but thought I'd change it up a bit.
Place the gift card and personal message into the card.
You'll then want to fold it, one flap at a time, tucking the final flap under the previous one.

Then press it with an iron, be careful not to burn it!!

Flat as a pancake!Add a festive sticker on the back to seal it and you're done! They can be mailed like this and since they are an irregular size, will be hand canceled, so you don't have to worry about losing your contents in a machine somewhere! They do cost a bit extra to mail due to their size, but who cares! They're cute as could be!
Or you can put a bow on it and place it under the tree.
Or hand deliver it at the office or, you know, where ever.

I really like this card because it can also double as a birthday card, invitation, or announcement.

Thanks for checking it out! Happy creating and Happy Holidays!

Pictures for Baby Learning Books

2009-12-19T06:34:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to use these pictures! Or bounce off them and use them for ideas. Obviously some of them are very personalized, but you get the idea. Have fun!

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