Monday Excursion!

I'm SO excited!! WOO HOO!!!! WHOOP WHOOP!!!! YEEEHAW!!!! OH....maybe I should tell you why? hehe

Here goes:

I'm going to HOBBY LOBBY tomorrow! AND....better than that...>BIG LOTS!!!! Do you have ANY idea the things you can get a Big lots for crafting? And...its WAY affordable!

You can get small skeins of funky yarn for a buck each. There are racks and racks of awesome scrapbooking supplies for cheap. Most items are between 1 and 5 dollars, including super cute scrapbooks! There are tons of jewelry making supplies for around 1 to 5 dollars each as well!  There are cute dishtowels for cheap if you like upcycling.  Adorable socks for upcycling.....TONS o FUN at Big lots!

 A lot of the fun of tomorrow is also that I am taking my two oldest daughters, my friend, and her daughter as well. It is destined to be a girl's DAY OF FUN! I promise to come back with a bunch of new crafty ideas to post!

Friday Blog hop!

It's Friday and I feel like HOPPING! I've got a lilly pad for hoppin at my site today! I'm also hopping here:
You can hop around on that blog hop....and you can hop around on mine too! Hop on in, the water's fine! Just stop at as many lilly pads as you can! It's simple, follow me and ad your link here! Then, feel free to hop around to the other links added below!

Upcycling Jeans with my daughter

I have passed my love of upcycling jeans to my oldest daughter, Raegan (she is 14 now, but was 13 when we made these). I thought I would post a couple skirts that we did together.....

This skirt was a lot of fun to make.  I had cut the pant legs off another pair of pants that I just wanted the waistband from and saved them because of how pretty the white embroidery was.  I was unsure of what to do with it as yet.  Then, Raegan decided she wanted a skirt, so she took some blue jeans, chopped off the bottoms(she likes t-length skirts) and started looking for fabric to put in it.

I then stepped in and told her I had something that would work...the bottoms of the other pair!

So, We attatched them...and VOILA...an adorable skirt! People usually ask what store it came from! (One question, Raegan...what's it like to be so skinny?)

On this skirt, Raegan did most of the work herself.  I helped by finding her the cute camo fabric with blue embroidered butterflies in my stash as well as the butterfly sew-on patch. 

She did the leg chopping, seam ripping, fabric cutting, and most of the sewing.  Her sewing machine was getting ready to bite the dust, so, I did help her with the top part and the hems.  (this skirt is a little tight  now, so she's going to give it away to someone else)

I will be posting a basic tutorial on these soon......as well as some fun variations!

It's FRIDAY Hop time!

Check out the lilly pads I'm "hoppin" on this week...c'mon and join me!

My FIRST Award! ....AND YOURS!

I was awarded the "Versatile Blogger" award by Creative Southern Home!  Seeing how I NEVER win ANYTHING....I'm WAY excited! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!

The really cool news is....this award has COOTIES!  It's catchy!  Here's why:

Here are the "rules" of this award:

1. You have to thank the person who awarded you & link them back in your post and let them know you "accept" the award
2. Tell everyone 7 random facts about yourself
3. Pass the award to 15 new found bloggers
4. Contact each blogger and let them know you have passed this award onto them

7 Random facts from my "never normal" life!

1.  I LOVE Brie!
2.  I played the drums in school from 5th through 12th grade.
3.  I am ADDICTED to Danny Kaye and have passed my addiction on to my      children! Tapockit tapockit tapockit!
4.  I hate spiders and snakes....but especially spiders! EEEWWWW!
5.  I LOVE yard/garage sales, resale shops, and farmers' markets!
6.  I believe sarcasm is an artform.
7.  I have, without a doubt, the HOTTEST husband in the UNIVERSE!

So, without further adieu, here are the winners I have chosen to receive the "VERSITILE BLOGGER" award!

  1.  Call Me Laura Jane
  2.  Life with the Lebedas
  3.  My Decoupaged Life
  4.  Raising Knights
  5.  Retail Therapy lounge
  6.  SAHMing it on the Plains
  7.  The Carolina Peddler
  8.  The Adventures of Goober Grape and Monkey Man
  9.  The Clark Family
10.  The Iowa Housewife
11.  The Sewing Dork
12.  Three Boys 
13.  With Faith Family and Friends
14.  Yonder
15.  Blonde at Heart

Congrats to all the winners!  Take a minute to "click out" these sites....they are really great, all in their own ways!

2 Cute Easy headband redos!

As promised, Here is how I made adorable headbands with some leftover ribbon and some rescued lace from a friend's old pillowcases!

Materials:

Headband(dollar store is a GREAT place to look!)
Lace and ribbon scraps
Glue gun
scissors

#1
Directions:  (this is just what I DID....use your imagination and switch it up however you want!)

First I took this rescued pillowcase lace and cut two shell shapes side by

side from the edges.

I picked out two small rosettes (from my Leftover Lace tutorial)

Next I folded the lace shells over each other and arranged

them with the rossettes in a way that I liked and just

Glued em on.....VOILA...HEADBAND!

#2.

Directions:

I took  some more of that rescued lace out......

then I  cut a length just enough longer than the headband to wrap under the sides of the headband



I hot glued the headband from one side to the other making sure to

glue the undersides well.

*An option here would be to lace some ribbon of a

 contrasting color through. 

Or to glue some over top.  BUT, .....

I did neither!  This way, it will match more things.

Raegan(my oldest) modeled for me!

She loved this one!.......

But Buck loved it more!

Basic Easy Ribbon or Lace Hair Clips

These clips are SO much fun and SO easy too! (If I can do it.......ANYONE can! lol) 

Materials:

Ribbon or Lace (preferably two sided...if it has one white side and one patterned, it just doesn't turn out as nice)

Hot Glue Gun or Needle and thread(Some people prefer to hand stitch, but, I find the hot glue gun to be faster and just as nice)

Alligator clips or bobby pins

Felt

Optional...... a lapel pin finding (these rosettes make great pins too!)

DIRECTIONS:

To start, roll up one end of the ribbon tightly for about 3 rounds (or make a knot in the end first if you find it easier to wrap that way).

Next, begin flipping the ribbon AWAY from the direction you are rolling it.  Hot glue along the bottom as you fold to secure the ribbon.

This ribbon was white on one side, so I folded it in half as I went to keep the stripes on both sides.

Continue wrapping and flipping till you have your desired size, then clip, turn the end under the rosette and glue it to the bottom.

Next, cut a circle out of the felt to fit the bottom of the flour but not show from the top. Glue it to the bottom .Either glue on a lapel pin backing or Cut a rectangle of felt the same length as the diameter of the circle and glue just the ends to the circle of felt.

Then, add a bobby pin or an alligator clip and .......

                                                    

Stick it in your hair!



 Have you made these?  I would love it if you posted with a link to yours!



Frugal Finds for Future Fun!

I went to Family Dollar the other day and picked up a few things.....In all I spent about 8 dollars (tax included), and I think I found some real gems! Not sure exactly what I'll do with them yet, but they all have some real potential!

leftover lace and ribbons , rosettes , headbands , pins , and hair clippies...OH MY!

I fought the glue gun and the glue gun won!  A couple days ago, I got out my leftover/unused lace bag and a glue gun and went to town!  I had SO much fun!  I got to use the headbands from my "frugal finds for future fun " post too!   In all, I made one lapel pin, two headbands, and 5 hair clippies!

I thought I'd share some completed pics.  There will be some basic tutorial to follow in subsequent posts if your interested!


A hair clippie and a lapel pin....

3 Hair clippies

Two headbands made with leftover lace from a friends old pillowcases and some rosettes I made.

A little lace or ribbon and a hot glue gun and you've got a fun time waiting to happen!

Crochet Wrist warmer mitts

I LOVE to crochet.....but I  like fast easy projects, like hats, wash cloths, scrubbies, dish towels...etc.

AND, while I have been known to follow patterns, I am more apt to make my own.

Here are a couple pics of some patterns i created for a passion of mine.....Wrist warmers!  There are so many ways to do these, you can never get bored!  I may have to write the patterns down and share them so I can make you a wristlet addict too!

This pair is simple and cute...but missing something.  I think it needs a couple gold buttons from my old button collection!

 This pair is my favorite!  They remind me of one of my favorite childhood Ice Creams: Superman Ice Cream!