I'm baaaaccckkkk {is anyone still out there?}....

Well, it's only been 5 months since I updated...LOL Anyone still stop by? If you do, please leave a comment and say hello. :)

Life has been a little crazy this year and I just lacked the time to keep up with the blog. We've made the decision to homeschool this upcoming school year (for a number of reasons) and I'm really excited and nervous about it all at the same time. Summer is almost over and I think I'm about 95% certain on the curriculum we're going to use.

The kids are growing like weeds and I thought I'd just share a few quick and easy boredom buster ideas that we've been doing recently...

I saw this idea in Family Fun a few weeks ago and decided to give it a try. You take a plastic bottle, rinse it out, cut the bottom of it off and secure a small piece of a terry towel or washcloth over the cut end with a rubber band. Then you just get the towel damp and dip the end in a shallow bowl full of dish washing soap...and blow and blow and blow.

It's super easy, fast, free with items you already have and great entertainment. It kept my kids busy for about 45 minutes! See how many bubbles it's producing? (Oh, and my blogging bud Beckie said they did this in the bathtub recently..certainly going to try that soon!)

Here is another quick idea: {Chalk paints} Skip to my Lou did a post about this recently and we decided it would be a great activity for today. Head on over here for the directions on mixing up your own. After lunch, the kids helped me measure the corn starch and added the water and food coloring. It was also a great lesson in mixing colors and kept them occupied until the paints ran out. The kids used an assortment of paint brushes but really seemed to prefer the cheap sponge brushes since they'll soak up so much of the paint. We also brought out the chalk and the kids drew pictures and then painted those. It's going to rain again soon so we'll have a blank canvas again for tomorrow. :)

Fun with no sew appliques

I've been in a crafting slump the last few weeks. I thought I'd have time to escape to my craft room some this past weekend...but it didn't happen. I did upload some pictures from my camera and realized I hadn't done a post about the no sew appliques yet. So, here we go...

See, I even took a goofy pic of myself in the mirror (which needs to be cleaned by the way) so yall could see my appliqued t-shirt being modeled! :)

I taught the ladies in my MOPS group how to make no sew appliques last month but forgot to take my camera to the meeting (I know, I know...won't let it happen again!) Because of sick kiddos, I've missed both meetings this month and haven't had a chance to snap pics of any of the awesome appliques they made. I did happen to snap a few pics of some items I appliqued at home though. Will yall forgive me?

This is a blurry close up of the applique I'm wearing in the above shot. Recognize the material? It's a scrap left over from this. I used e6000 and applied three rhinestones to the fleur de lis after I'd ironed on the applique. You can see them better in the first shot.

Here is my silly boy modeling his rockin' guitar applique tee. I found the clip art online and resized the image in my word processing software. He loves this shirt! The material is an orange, yellow, red, black and white flame print. My son said it was "so cool!"

You can find directions for making appliques all over the web. Here are two links to get you started here and here. It's really late (or early, depending on how you look at it) and I'm not thinking clearly so I'm more than happy to answer questions in the comments area if needed.

In our MOPS meeting, we created really cute tote bags. I purchased black canvas bags from an ebay seller in bulk and then the ladies made some adorable appliques. Most of the ladies made adorable monograms or layered cute crosses cut from zebra print fabric or other cute coordinating patterns. I promise I'll post some pics of them once I snap some.

If you don't sew down your applique (by hand or by machine) some fraying will occur. I happen to like that look. :) I've also realized you can touch up the appliques with a hot iron if sections seem to lift up. This is great to know if your sewing skills are lacking like mine! I can sew straight lines...but curves are not so pretty! I did make a fleur de lis for a tote bag and practiced sewing on it. It looks terrible! Why did I choose to practice on an applique with so many curves? Is there some secret to sewing small curves? Please tell me there is some super cool secret that I'm not aware of! Otherwise, I guess I'll have to find some time to spend at my machine and figure it out.

{My first feature!}

Wow, I've neglected this poor blog for a few weeks now. Anyone else find February to be a rough month? I don't know about you, but my kids seem to have been fighting back to back illnesses for weeks now! It's beginning to get a little exhausting. Thankfully, we've not had any major illnesses, just lots of little ones back to back to back...which creates monumental loads of laundry, sleepless nights, lots of trips to the doctors office, and LOTS of disinfecting...and little time for crafting!

But, I was just pleasantly surprised when I took a quick break from disinfecting the house and folding the hundredth load of laundry to come check on a few of my favorite blogs to see what I've been missing...and low and behold...I found the desk transformation I did last month featured on Ucreate! What a fun surprise! I had to do a double take to make sure I'd not refreshed my own page. Thanks for featuring my desk Kari! Now, go check out the post and her blog because Kari's got TONS of fun links to tutorials and projects that should keep you busy for hours.

Have a great weekend and hopefully I'll be back in full swing next week. I'm hoping to get some time in for crafts this weekend because I need a craft fix...I'm starting to go through withdrawals!

Cuuuute sewing projects for your little girls...

Before I start, I have to give a big THANK YOU to Kristin over at Grace Violet. Do you remember how I recently mentioned that I NEVER win any of the blog giveaways? Well, that has since changed! :) I bet some of you entered to win the adorable zipper bag she was giving away, but didn't win because I won it! Well over 200 people entered and my number was selected...YEAH! It's adorable and I'm fighting my toddler for the bag (she is already obsessed with shoes and bags) but this one is for me! See, isn't it cute? Thanks again Kristin, I ♥ it!

{photo from Grace Violet}

Okay, so speaking of Kristin at Grace Violet, did you see these adorable summer dresses she made? (Her girls are adorable, too!)

{photo from Grace Violet}

She made them out of the smocked material that Hobby Lobby has right now AND she gives you directions on how to do it. It looks really easy, too! I just need to see if I can get my hands on some of the material before it's all gone. They're adorable! Go on over to her site and check them out!

Also, Julie at Joy's Hope posted a tutorial for these precious tutu t-shirts.

{photo from Joy's Hope}

They are so cuuute and I can't wait to try this out! I'm thinking of folding the tulle in half and filling the top or bottom layer with some fun pompoms, flowers or even confetti.

We have several tutus in this house because my daughter LOVES them. It cracks me up that she likes them so much at such a young age. She'll tell me "pwincess mommy, pwincess" and put on a tutu or two. There has even been many trips to Hobby Lobby with Breanna wearing a tutu...but I don't mind. :)

So, I've got some projects to keep me busy for a few days. What are you working on right now?

Quick Kids Costumes

I know it's not Halloween but I'm doing a post on kids costumes today. My son LOVES to play dress up and I bet a lot of your kids do, too. We also seem to have a few events at school that require them to dress up as their favorite story book character or what they want to be when they grow up.

Last week, the first graders at our school had a Fairy Tale Ball. Connor decided he wanted to be Robin Hood and this is what we came he came up with. {Note: the school sent home a note telling the kids to not dress up in their Halloween costume but to please come up with something creative at home...love that!} Despite the quirky, stiff lipped smile, he was REALLY excited about this costume. Any of your kids smile like this? I know my little brother always did and it drove my mother nuts!

For this costume we used the following:

• green t-shirt ($2.00 at Hobby Lobby)
• an old belt
• 1 large sheet of green craft foam for the hat
• pipe cleaners for the arrows
• feathers for the hat and tips of the arrows
• paper towel tube for the arrow holder (don't know what it's called)
• sheet of tan felt with pennies inside, twisted shut with a pipe cleaner and looped through the belt to stay in place
• yarn we already had in the craft closet

I found this fun site that teaches how to make several types of kids hats here (and it's step by step videos...no trying to decipher wierd directions and fold lines!) This is where we found the directions for the Robin Hood hat and used the large craft foam sheet instead of construction paper. Any of the hats on her site would be really cute for a birthday party!

Connor was so proud of his costume, especially since he helped make it. Here is his robot costume from Halloween. Some card board boxes sprayed silver, dryer duct, old shoes sprayed silver and various "things" Connor helped find and make to create his robot costume. The colorful stuff on the front and sides are those glow in the dark bracelets. We hot glued them on just before he walked out the door. It looked really neat once it got dark!

I'm sure we'll be making many more costumes in the future. Thankfully, my son likes being creative as well and we really enjoy making the costumes together. Do you have any favorite costumes you've made with or for your kids? Any great sites where you get ideas from?

{Craft it Forward}

I promised something fun today, and here it is...It's my first giveaway! {Craft it Forward} isn't your typical giveaway though. Keep reading to figure out how you can win and/or participate.

Here's the rules if you want to win a handmade ♥GIFT♥ from me. Be one of the first 3 bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which entitles you to a handmade item from me. Winners must post this giveaway on your blog, meaning that you will {Craft it Forward} too, creating a handmade gift for the first three bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway! The gift that you send can be any price range and you have 30 days to make and ship your item(s).

Remember, it’s the spirit and the thought that count! When you receive your gift, please blog about it, sharing appropriate Linky Love! If you are not one of the Top Three to comment on this post, you can still play along. Please start your own {Craft it Forward} chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same. Amy Jo at The Little Moments, is participating in this pay it forward endeavor. We just met in the blogosphere this last week so I was too late to take part in her giveaway and thought I'd start my own (and change the time frame...I'm too impatient to wait a year!)

~If you're one of the first 3 commenters, please shoot me an email with your mailing address so I know where to send your goodies! Watch out though, you might find some new stalkers waiting to see when you do your own {Craft it Forward} post so they can be one of the first three lucky commenters on your blog.

And the academy goes to....

Mandi over at Mandi Shandi's presented me with my first ever blog award this past week! ♥ She was one of my first bloggy friends and I love reading her blog. Please go visit her and tell her hello! I'm sure you'll love her creativity and family...both are awesome! Mandi presented me with this Lemonade Award:

What this award is about...Bloggers who show great attitude and gratitude. (Wow! Thanks again Mandi)

What you have to do...Upon receiving The Lemonade Award, you also pass it on to other bloggers who you think show great attitude and gratitude.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

In no particular order, my nominees for the Lemonade Award are:

1. Beckie @ Infarrantly Creative

2. Julie @ Joys Hope

3. Missy @ Simply Red

4. Kristin @ Grace Violet

5. Sarah @ Thrifty Decor Chick

6. Stephanie @ Confessions of a Compulsive Crafter

7. Carrie @ Buzzings of a Queen Bee

8. Kari @ U Create

9. Mique @ 30 days

10. Amy Jo @ the little moments...

I love reading all of the blogs by these women. Even though I've only been blogging a few short months, I've been following several of these women for much longer. Several of these bloggers inspired me to start my own blog and I'm glad I did. I love all their creativity and honesty! Now go visit these women and check out their blogs if you haven't already!