Christmas Craft - Felt Peppermint Candy!

Felt! Who knew?!??!?!?! Probably everybody but me!!! =)

When I saw the prices for felt, I searched the internet for Christmas craft projects. I loved the felt candy and princess accessories. I started out making a few felt cookies, that look great to me! As long as I don't compare them to the ones being sold on etsy!!! lol!

But I wanted something for Christmas, I searched and found this great tutorial for felt Christmas ornaments at this blog http://pinksuedeshoe.com/2010/12/03/felt-peppermint-christmas-ornaments/. I loved how her ornaments came out! Of course I am not that fancy! I took a few shortcuts thanks to my lovely glue gun!

I started out with the felt, two yards of each. Which is waaaaaayyyy more than what you need for this project!

 I made a fancy, going-to-last-forever template from one of our dinner plates and cut it out of a circular.

 And cut and cut and cut.

 Same process for the "star".

 Trace and cut and cut!

I sewed them and added a little shine! Rhinestones on two and glitter glue from the dollar store on the other.

Love the glittery look! I hot glued each one of the rhinestones, which was not the most entertaining thing to do! It took a while, but I LOVE the way these ornaments glitter with the lights!

 I loved them so much I used the remaining felt to make two huge candy canes.

  Close up.

 I added one to the front wreath!

 It shines wonderfully when the lights are on!

Speaking of the front door, this is my first time using the mesh. I LOVE it! Its seriously the easiest thing to work with! Unfortunately, I did not buy enough and they are sold out!!!! So I will just wait as patiently as possible for the next shipment!!!!!

And of course, time was up! Time to watch Dora for the millionth time!!!!!!! I know I will miss these days, so let me go enjoy the time with my little princess!!

Linked at http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/.

Tutorial: Paper Butterfly Wall

I wanted to fill up a big empty wall in my daughter's room. But I didn't want to commit to any artwork as I knew I would then start decorating around that artwork. So I wanted something neutral, but girlie and relatively inexpensive enough to still be cute! After a few hours on pinterest, I found the answer.... a paper butterfly wall!

What you will need:

Assortment of Paper

Butterfly Hole Puncher

Regular clear tape

Start by selecting the papers that match your bedroom's vision. Some of mine had two sides, others didn't, some had glitter, some were cardstock and others just regular weight.  

Try to keep the likes together, makes it easier when putting them up. Since I didn't want the same paper side by side.

These are the papers I chose. Assortment of pinks and glittered paper.

 I had seen the Martha Steward butterfly hole puncher at Micheal's. But I happened to find this one at Hobby Lobby. I liked it because it was bigger and cheaper!!

 It took about 10 minutes to punch through the paper and get a good stack of butterflies.

 Off I went to tackle the empty wall. I started putting a few here and there. I just took regular Scotch tape and rolled it to make it double sided and up it went. I pre-folded the butterfly wings in the "up" positionto get the shadow / 3D effect.

Just keep putting them up. I started with here and taped up the rough outline of the curves I wanted. Then i just started filling it all in.

 You can see the shadows here.

 Up close and personal!! =)

This is a SUPER SUPER easy project once you have all the supplies. It took me a total of about 1 hour to get this done! (Once I got all the supplies home.) This is a new record for me, to shop for the supplies, complete the project, take the pictures AND post!!!!!!!! This has NEVER happened before!!! Yay! Maybe I am on to something here!! Watch out craft list!!!!!
Linked at http://www.classyclutter.net/  and http://sewchatty.blogspot.com/
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Craft Show Bug!!

I am not sure how this happened. Just a click here and there and all my weekends until the end of October were booked with craft shows!

After the first sale, reality set it! Time to make more bows!!!! I dont think I have gone to sleep earlier than 1am these last two weeks!!!

Yet it's all worth it when a little girl tries on a hair bow and says "I'm a princess!"

Last weekend was the Just Shop for Just Cause event at the MET. It was a great event!
http://themetonline.org/justshop

Great speakers, so many talented vendors, great cause and the coordination of the event was beyond words!!!

We had our station right outside the speaker's conference room. Great location!

I knew I didn't want alot of tables for the event, one I dont have but one, two I would have to carry them myself, and they are not eye level to little girls.

There is such a mixture of holders here. A frame from the last homeowner's that I repainted and added the chicken wire.  When I stood back I was so happy with it, but thought, I need this BIGGER!!! And then after small research I came up with making a frame, held together by staples!!! Shhh!!! And added chicken wire! Ta-sa a self standing bow holder!! It was a life saver!! Exactly what I needed and SOOO light!!!

The small holder at the bottom started out as a CD holder then found its true calling and became a bow holder!! =)

 

 You meet the MOST beautiful people at shows!!! Even if they eat all the snacks very early on!

She had a great time swinging around!!!

 And of course my sister and all her wonderful help that made this day run so smoothly!!!

Painted Vinyl Floorcloth!

I have been wanting to paint a vinyl floorcloth for years now. I first saw a design on Design Dazzle at http://designdazzle.blogspot.com/2009/05/painted-floor-rug-diy.html.

I finally got around to Lowes to get a small piece for Sophia's restroom.

Here is the vinyl, primed with left over KILZ primer. 

I then painted in all in a glossy blue oops paint from Lowe's.

Got an image that I liked off the internet and started painting! Lots and lots of nights of painting. Probably took about a week worth of nights. Cover everything!!!

 I used regular Folk Art, Americana and Apple Barrel craft paint for Dora. It took a few coats to cover the deep blue. Here is a spotted Dora, don't worry, it all matches when its dry.

 After painting, outlining and touchups, I let the craft paint dry overnight. Then took it in the garage for two coats of sealer.

Here is the finished product! We love it. Large enough to cover a big area and personalized!! What's not to love!!??!

 Another view.

 Good Cheap Old Vinyl!!!!

Easter Fun!

I love Holidays!!! Growing up my family did a great job at keeping Holidays all about the kids. This year was my turn to keep the ball rolling. The day before Easter Sunday, yes I know, very prepared here! We took off to buy baskets, candys and goodies! It surprising how much you don't know about boys and what they like. All I know is pink!!!!

We spread out the goodies and starting putting baskets together. I kept it really simple, a nice chocolate bunny, a yo-yo, gooey slimy looking putty, and few more candies for the boys.  For the younger girls, a book, a doll and jelly beans. For the pre-teen a book, candies and scented body sprays.  

Everything is ready to be assembled.

 Semi-finished state. They just need the finishing touch.

Close-up!

 I already had a clear bag and planned to tie it with a loose bow, but it was missing something...!
Personalization!!! I cut strips of ribbon and free-handed their names with puffy fabric paint.

 The trick with this little bottle, is to keep a consistent flow of paint.

 The finished products, just waiting to dry.

 A close up of the 3D paint effect.

 Simply and loosely tied to the baskets!

 They are ready to go! Baskets...check! Dessert....omGosh I forgot!!!

 It was sitting in the fridge with the first crumb coat on. I pulled out all the peeps and MM's for their big debut!!! I loved how this cake looked on pinterest. It had the perfect look for Easter!!

Here I am adding vanilla icing...aka the glue. A nice thick layer all around. I worked in pieces just to make sure I was getting it right.

 All the bunnies are now "glued" on and the top layer of vanilla is ready!

 I scooped spoonfulls of the MandM's and gently pressed them into the frosting. It took the entire bag!

 Ta-da! Too cute. Oops did that blue one fall off, don't worry I got it!! Yum!!!!

 And of course, Easter could not be complete without Angry Bird hand painted eggs!!! Wow! Some people are so creative!!! They looked great!

Dixie Dude Ranch Vacation

We snuck out of Houston the week after spring break and headed out to Bandera, TX. We always go to Galveston for mini vacays, so we thought it would be a great idea to try something new.

After much research, we decided on the Dixie Dude Ranch in Bandera. Its less than 6 hours away and sounded like fun. Their all inclusive package, gave us three meals a day, morning coffee, nightly entertainment, private quarters and two 45 - 60 minute horse rides. We just showed up and everything was taken care of! Loved it!! So little planning!!!

Sophia made fast friends with the sweetest kitty in the world!

 Her new buddy!

The scenery was awesome!!! Rolling green hills, the quite sound of the wind and the stars at night looked so close as though you could just reach out and touch them!!

 The cabins were so charming and rustic looking!!!

Evenings ended with smores at the fire pit. This night we had Makin Dust, come out and sing cowboy songs. Another night we had a longhorn come out that the kids could ride on.

 Neat!

We made the rounds each morning and visited our favorite horse..Ruthie!! If riding double, this is the most cautious horse!

 And then off we went! We rode to the highest point of those hills, the view was great!

 Quick family pic!

 I will miss this porch most of all! Just hanging out, reading books and watching Sophia play...the hours stretched out.

 We tried a few afternoon walks that always ended up like this! Poor dada!

 We made into town and found a coffehouse...the Dogleg Coffeehouse...love the original name.

 Love the rustic texture of this building.

I saw this sign and quickly walked away hoping to come back to a new puppy and hopefully just in time to snatch the expresso and take it for myself....But they must have ran out of both..bummer! =)

 Another great family pic!  

 Beautiful and peaceful!

 Sophia enjoyed the rides so much, she kept asking for more.

We didn't make it inside this store, but it looks great from the outside. So old-fashion-y!

I wonder what they sell here...

A final shot of Main Street.