Sunday, November 25, 2012

DIY Crochet Patches

Miss Kellie is one active kid, and even though she's getting bigger right now I have four pairs of pants with holes in the knees. I put a cute patch on a few, but didn't want them all to look the same.  
Last night I finally got some inspiration - and started on her 'skinny jeans'.  
They looked like this:

Instead of a patch I thought I'd crochet a cute flower to go over the hole.  But the poor thing looks so lonely - and I couldn't leave it with just two, because these things are much better in threes.  With Sugar n' Cream yarn I crocheted and attached each of the embellishments - including a few random stitches to pull it all together.  Miss Kellie kept asking for 'just one more', but we stopped at four.  Adding a little stitch near the pockets as well.


SUCCESS!!  She loves them!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Back to School!!

My daughter, the famous Miss Kellie, is an only child.  Today was Miss Kellie's first day of school and boy was she excited!  She got up early (5:45am) not wanting to miss a thing, got ready and went off to school with her Dad.  It broke my heart but I couldn't be there, Dad flew solo and did an awesome job getting a few really cute pictures for this scrapbookin' Mama!!


 I'm sorry, I  must say I have one of the cutest kids on the planet....

Anyway, because Miss Kellie is the one and only we have had a set night time schedule since she was a baby.  Now all three of us need to get adjusted to a new routine, mornings won't be as easy going and evenings need to include homework time. 

Because Miss Kellie is getting to be SO independent, I wanted to make a visual reminder for her.  This way she can get going in the morning and before we're ready to leave we can run through the list and be sure everything is set.

With an old cookie sheet and my scrapbook supplies I got to work.  I split the cookie sheet into two sections, morning and night.  I adhered the two sheets of paper with my homemade ModPodge (you can find that link in this post), cut ten squares, then used my trusty cricut to cut a cute picture for each reminder. I let Miss Kellie help decide what to put on each block and pick out the colors for each element.  Both sections have a magnet embellished with vinyl to be used as a 'place holder' or attach notes we don't want to miss.

In the end we got this, pretty nifty I think:

A closer shot of each side:


Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Custom Made Bridal Shower Shirts

Hello there, again!!  My super-cute sister Jenn was recently the Maid-of-Honor in her best friends wedding.  To get ready for the bachelorette party she wanted to get custom shirts for each of the attendees...holy cow, have you ever priced custom shirts!  They were uber expensive, at about $28 a shirt! (because she only needed 14)

So...we put our crafty heads together with my other super-cute and super-crafty sister Stephanie and came up with a crafty plan....

We used:
Vinyl (cut on the Cricut)
Fabric Paint
Plain t-shirts (we used men's undershirts in packs of five)
Iron-on transfers (in the office supply section of the store)

Jenn wanted the words "Bridal Entourage" on the back of each shirt and a picture of the bride on the front.  We started by printing a cute picture of the bride and transferring the image as directed on the package.

Next, we cut out the words "Entourage" and "Bridal" in vinyl using two different fonts on the Cricut (Songbird & Cuttin' Up).  The vinyl can be placed directly onto the shirt and makes the painting process MUCH easier!  And we reused each cut out about five times - they came off easily and stuck to the next shirt just fine.


As soon as the paint from the first word was dry, we painted the word "Bridal" with a glitter paint using the same technique. 





See how cute and glittery!!  The Bride is a glitter girl and was sure to love this! 


The finished shirt with my super-cute sister Jenn modeling.  
They were a hit and only cost about $4 a shirt!  
You can't beat that price...



Saturday, July 7, 2012

Tiny Taco Salads

My mother-in-law is amazing, she is constantly trying new recipes and sharing the hits with the family.  So...while I didn't find this recipe, I did help put these together and have her permission to share this with the blogging world.

For the Fourth of July she broke out and a "Taste of Home" recipe book and we made "Taco Dip Singles" - they were pretty and super tasty!

You'll need:
1 pound ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 package (8oz) cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayo
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 small red onion, finely chopped

In a large skillet cook ground beef with taco seasoning and tomato sauce - as directed on the seasoning packet.
In a small bowl mix cream cheese, sour cream and mayo until smooth.
In small cups (about 8oz each) layer:
    - ground beef
    - cream cheese mix
    - chopped peppers
    - shredded cheese
    - chopped tomatoes
    - chopped lettuce
    - chopped onion
Serve with a side of chips - these are easy and really tasty!  This was a huge hit at our family function!!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

DIY Coasters

A few weeks ago my sisters and I got together for a craft day - to make our own 'pinspired' coasters!  And you can to - it's super easy!!


What you need:
4 1/2 inch tiles
(My sister got a box of tiles from the "Re-Store" a  local second hand store for home building supplies.  She ended up spending about $0.09 a piece.)
craft paper
Mod Podge
disposable foam brush
felt with adhesive on the back
sealer


Start by cutting the craft paper to the desired size.  We cut ours 4 inches by 4 inches and had a nice boarder from the tile behind.


Spread a thin layer of Mod Podge on the tile using the foam brush - quickly attaching the cut paper.




At this time you will want to add any embellishments you like- you can see my little birds in the picture below.



As soon as the tile is cuter than cute - spread another thin layer of Mod Podge and let dry for about 15 mins.

Attach a 4 inch by 4 inch piece of felt on the back of each tile, this helps to protect your surfaces from scratches.

Spray all tiles with a waterproof sealer and let sit overnight.

These make great quick gifts for any occasion, because you can use whatever paper you like!  I actually made these for myself - gasp!  

Note to all crafters: it's okay to keep something for yourself every once in a while!



Sunday, April 29, 2012

Key Lime Cheesecake

Well, it's been a long (very long) time since I've posted anything.  Things have been pretty crazy for my family over the last few months and we've finally settled down and I can get back to blogging and crafting!

To kick off my comeback I thought I'd share this great recipe...

Key Lime Cheesecake
This is a refreshing, light desert - perfect for the upcoming summer.  (and really pretty)

You'll need:

9 sheets graham crackers (crush in a plastic bag with a rolling pin)
3 T butter
1 T sugar
(1) 4 serving size lime jello
3/4 cup boiling water
16 oz cottage cheese (trust me on this)
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz whipped cream
3 limes, 2 juiced and 1 for garnish

What to do:
  • In a small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar.  Press crumb mixture in the bottom of 2-quart backing dish.  Refrigerate while preparing filling.
  • In a large bowl combine gelatin and water - stir until gelatin is dissolved and set aside.
  • In a blender or food processor combine lime juice, cottage cheese and cream cheese, blend until smooth. In half cup increments whisk the cottage cheese mixture into the gelatin mixture until completely combined.
  • Whisk whipped cream into the mixture and spoon filling over chilled crumb mixture.
  • Cover and refrigerate until filling is firm (I left mine overnight)
  • To serve, cut into squares.  Top with lime zest and a few lime wedges.
Makes about 9 servings

ENJOY!