Happy Birthday, Outfitted!

Now for the skirt. 1 yard of Mesh netting. Folded in half length wise, 2 times. Pinned, serged. Then I just used random strips of ricrac, bias tape, and fabric strips, and serged them on
no rhyme or reason. Usually this kills me- (all the non-measuring) but it worked today... Gather. There are so many ways to do this. But I now prefer the secret weapon of dental floss! So strong- and wont break when your tightening up the gather, or pulling it out. -but out of dental floss- (my husbands been flossing with the alligator flossers! Ha!) -used embrodory thread.....
.Then pin it like crazy to a pre-measured elastic.
Sew it onto the elastic. **just below the gathering floss... Then pull the flossi out. And back to the serger to bring it all together.
Flower on the Left... scroll down a bit for directions
I made the #1 out of bandana Bias tape. Just folds, and one straight stitch- raw edges left. Layered with 4 CD sized Red Mesh circles, 1 black felt circle, and then one scalloped edge.
Pinned on, then sewn.

For the poka-dot flower-hat... Cut a scalloped edge. As you can see imperfection is bliss... in the end.
Same flossi technique
Fold mesh circles in half, and then in half one more time.
Using hot-glue secure 4 of these mesh petals (or more) Then Glue the poka-dot flower on top
On the backside, I went for a Bonnet-tie. Elastic would have been cute too.
All Set! Little "Miss Moo" Turning ONE! And ready to party!

Moo Cake!

We call our baby "Miss Moo," "Moo Cow," "Moody Moo!" And well, I just know this probably shouldn't go on much longer. One day she won't come running with a name like that. So for her first birthday, we decided to do a Farm/Cow theme. Thank goodness for the Family Fun March issue I had just received! Here are the details- and the how to!

Leg Warmers

These are must-haves for the spring. I have loved leg warmers since 3rd grade. (thank you purple dreamwear!) I came across this tutorial and knew she had to have them. They were so fast and I pd. $4.98 for a 3pack at Target. She got one other pair and one for her big Sissy. I have also seen them paired with tights under the legwarmers, and at one of my favorite places....

Pillow Power

Winters are long in New Hampshire, so I decided to try and inspire the weather outside, with some changes inside my house. I started with my rugs, I traded the downstairs "flower rug" with my upstairs solid red rug(not pictured). Next I went to pillows...

Can't you just hear the birds singing? No? Okay, well in a few weeks they should start singing. again.

Classroom Valentines

My kids have their V-day party coming up, so we headed to the store to grab some Valentines. They have been asked not to bring candy...so how do y0u make your Valentines special without candy?

Caleigh, my creative daughter, individually made each of her own, attaching pencils to each my favorite message, "you are the "write" one for me." (cute arrow sticking in her head, huh?)

Miles skipped the Valentines aisle all together and headed to the birthday party section at Walmart. He found these airplanes, 4 for a $1. He built them and we thought of cute messages like, "you are just "plane" great." or "Valentine, you're "fly"".

Who needs candy to make their V-day cards special, right?

Sidetable Makeover

My friend gave me this lovely side table, it's perfect for my magazines and kids books but...it didn't match the rest of my living room furniture, so I gave it a makeover.

I started with sanding and painting with primer, this Gripper worked awesome.
Then two coats of black paint, and two coats of polyurethane, since it will be getting lots of ware and tear.

I added a cute silver pull, so my silver lamp had a buddy, and Voila'...



I really love how it turned out and can't wait till spring so I can tackle my dining room table.

Homemade Crayons

These are so easy and so fun! Recycle your crayons.... peel the crayons, break them up, mix colors, etc. I used a mini muffin tin. Place in the oven at 200 for 10min, or until the crayons are melted. Let cool. (cooling usually takes about 2 hours) You can also speed up the cooling by putting them into the freezer. I didn't use any non-stick spray, but I am sure that would help get them out. If they are stubborn- just put the pan into the freezer for 5min, and they will pop right out. The kids love coloring with them. You can also stir the wax once its melted, but we really liked the rainbow effect.

Crosages

It was the School Daddy Daughter Dance. And with the awful economy all the florist shops have closed, the closest one is 25 min out. So- off to Costco for the roses- $20- I made 3 wristlets and 2 crosages. (a set for my friend) It just took a little floral tape, and a hair-rubberband. I should have taken pictures. But- really so easy. They turned out darling. So really, I saved ($30- at least)

Valentine Decor

My mantle. Thanks to my Cricut- I was able to cut perfect hearts to make the garland. Cut and tie them all together- as you can see there is one stubborn heart (at least you can see how they are all tied.) The idea of the burlap wreath came from here. And I did the roses myself!

So... I went to All A Dollar, and bought pink and red roses. My daughter and I had a girls-night and painted them with Martha's glitter glue, and spooned glitter, shook them, set to dry. Then, I just took the picks, pressed them into a brick of floral foam, wrapped it in ribbbon, and viola! All for $3! So excited. I love glitter!
My MIL bought me the LOVE letters, but I am certain with a little modgepodge you could make these yourself! Michaels, JoAnn's everyone's carrying letters these days. I also get a ton of use out of them. Just about EVERY bridal shower I use them as part of the table centerpiece. The little topiary came from The Idea Room. (which is a blog i check all the time!) love her!
This was a super-fast project, taken from Tatertots and Jello. Great inspiration there too!
The wreath is also from here. Way time consuming. Don't know that I could stand to cut circles for 2 hours again... but wait, its lovely! I still want to add some ribbon, but haven't found the right look- and well, time is running out- so I just hung it. And those candles are straight from Smiths- the grocer! ($4.99)

A new way to play scrabble

I have seen these scrabble tile pendants all over the internet, but not so much around my home in NH, so I had to make my own. They turned out great! I can't wait to share them with my family for their birthday's. (so, I just ruined any surprise.)

Here's mine, scissors, since I love making things with paper and such.

The ones I have seen online always cover up the letter a little bit, and I really wanted to find a way to not cover up the letter, since it seems like the whole point of matching the initial with whoever it's for. Here is my daughter Caleigh's she hasn't taken it off for two days.

As promised...

CRAYON COZIES, so cute, easy to make, and perfect for your on-the-go artist. Ours are working brilliantly for church, so no more noisy crayon box.