Craft Website

My kids like to scrapbook while listening to conference and I noticed last time I was gathering pics that I have ALOT of craft pictures. I decided to start a craft blog for a couple of reasons...to share with others and so that I can go back and look at ideas and use them again. I have a few items that I had TOTALLY forgot about.

So, if you want to check it out..you can find it HERE:

Keep in mind that it is a work in progress and I'll be adding more as I come across them.

American Girl Crafts

Calista was invited to an American Girl birthday party and we made some cute doll accessories for her friend's American Girl doll. I think they turned out kinda cute. She made 1 necklace, 2 bracelets, 2 headbands w/flowers, and 2 separate flower clips. We also found a REALLY cute polka dotted swimsuit and Calista made one of the headbands to match. We had so much fun making these...think we'll have to make some more this summer!!

FINALLY!!!

It seems like it takes me a long time to finish any project that I start..not sure why but I get distracted about 100 times and it takes twice as long as it should...Anyway, this is an idea that I have had rumbling around in my head for a couple of months and I FINALLY got around to finishing it. I wanted something to hang on my front door that was generic enough to leave up as long as I wanted. I think it turned out pretty good. In case I haven't said it before (which I have) - I LOVE my Silhouette. I used it to cut out all the flowers.

Anyway - here's my latest project in a long line of projects to work on:

Sewing Frenzy..

I'm working on my YW Personal Progress and just finished my 10 hour project for Divine Nature by learning how to sew a few things:

I made some Christmas dresses and a Christmas tie:

I took the kids to the fabric store a couple of weeks ago and let them pick out some material for aprons and finally got around to making them. Calista's is on the left and Hailey's is on the right:

I learned how to make these adorable fabric flowers. I made some to go with their Christmas dresses and made some out of leftover material from their aprons:

I also made these pillowcases for Christmas presents:

I think it may be time to give my poor sewing machine a break. I've probably worked it more in the last month than I have in the last 10 years!!

What I've been up to...

So the kids have been at school for just over a week and I got this crazy idea that I wanted to quickly make these 2 craft projects. Even though the kids are at school - it has still taken me almost 2 weeks to finish them between getting all the supplies and all the other little interruptions.

First, I had a VERY simple version of the following. It was basically just on paper and not very cute. I came across THIS BLOG and here's what I ended up with. I LOVE it because my kids know what they have each day and it shifts the responsibility from me to them to make sure they have library books or P.E. shoes. I'm all about shifting responsibility!! hahaha!

A close up:

And just because Christmas is only 4 months away - I thought I better get a jump on this one - a countdown to Christmas. (I made something with this paper last Christmas and needed more to make this but I couldn't find any. So, I searched the internet and found it has been digitalized..OH I love my digital papers!!!) Behind each magnet is either an activity, a joke, or a good deed to do that day.

More Bleached Out Shirts!!

My sister Shawna and 3 of her kids came down to visit this weekend. We had a lot of fun together!! They wanted to make some bleached out t-shirts and here is what they came up with:

I love to see how everyone has their own take and style on these! They are so easy & cute. My kids are having a back to school activity with some friends tomorrow and will be making these...

P.S. - did I mention how much I LOVE my Silhouette? I used it to cut out all the designs!!

Bleached Out T-shirts!!

My sister Angie saw these on the Rachael Ray show and we wanted to try them out. I cut out designs using my Silhouette which is similar to a Cricut - except I can cut out any design on my computer!!! They used household items such as safety pins, keys, paper clips, etc...

Place the design on the t-shirt. Some of our designs were pretty intricate so we used a light coat of spray adhesive to stick them to the t-shirt. Spray with bleach until the shirt reaches the washed-out look that you desire (about 1 minute for us) and then use a second spray of vinegar to stop the bleach's reaction. We rinsed them in cold water and dried them.

The kids got to pick out their designs and place them on the t-shirt. They loved it!!

Calista's shirt is purple..Hailey's shirt is pink...Chance was playing with friends and wouldn't come tell me what he wanted.

Crafts

OK - I couldn't post this earlier because I wanted to surprise my friends in Vegas with these and they would have seen them if I had posted them on my blog - so here are some more crafts that I made while I was down with my knee surgery.The blocks have different quotes on each side. Some of them are about friends, family, Mothers, etc. I also have some really cute baby keepsake ones that I'll post pics of later.

Teacher Gifts

I always struggle with Teacher gifts - what do you give them that they haven't been given 101 times?

Our school started a wish lists for the teachers. They list items that they need for the classroom and then the ideas are printed on snowflakes or ornaments and placed outside the teacher's room so that parents can take one and get something the teacher really needs.

Although I LOVE this idea - I can't resist getting them something a little more SO me and my neighbor ladies (Kim, CaraDee, and Camille) got together and made these....

They turned out so cute and we could individualize them for each teacher. Luckily none of our kids have the same teacher so it worked out great! The nice part is - they only cost about $4 to make.