I'M BACK....

I am a really bad blogger.....I know!!!

Weather, a banquet, a teacher lunch, colds and flu have all been keeping me VERY busy, but I'm back at last with some crafty goodies to share with you:-)

Today was our 3rd of 4 teacher appreciation lunches that our schools PTA host for the staff each year. I think I've mentioned before that these lunches are my baby..........I've done them for about 5 years now. I want to share with you the centerpieces I made - I've decided now that we need to be done with winter and spring needs to grace us with her presence. With that in mind, this is what I came up with.

I made these paper flowers using tissue paper, and then attached them to one of those styrofoam wreaths you can get at the craft stores. For today's purpose, I just placed some Easter grass in the center to hide the clips that weighted the balloons down. I am going to attach a big ribbon though and hang it as a traditional wreath. A friend of mine also came up with the idea of putting a candle in the center of it - I thought that was a great idea, although I would only use it for decorative purposes, I wouldn't light the candle - I like my house and wouldn't want to see it blazing!!!! It could also look quite cute with a glass vase fitted into the center of it, full of Easter candy. The butterfly I added, is one of those that you can get in the floral department of your favorite craft store.

This morning Boy Child took part in a Spelling Bee. He did fantastically well, and spelled all of his words correctly - I was a very proud mama!!!

His teacher likes to give each of the kids a goody bag for participating. I made these little bee soaps to add to the bags. I'm no soap maker, that's for sure, but I can do the melt and pour soaps, and that's what I did. They turned out to be very cute - the kids liked them.

Our theme for February in our Year of Enchantment Swap, was fairies. I had lots to choose from, that's for sure. I can share what I made with you now, as the package was delivered to my partner today - I hope she liked it:-)

I hope you all have a great weekend........ I believe ours is going to be cold and damp!!! I thought Texas didn't have weather like this.....(I bet I wont be saying that when it's 102 degrees outside!!!)

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate it:-)

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY...

Hope you all got spoilt rotten.......

We had a very low key day - napping, crafting and just taking it easy. I made a Valentines themed dessert for us this evening............it really didn't last too long:-)

Please excuse the yukky color of the photo - don't know what happened there.

I made heart shaped jello jigglers - a favorite of the kids. I used silicone molds for the first time ever (yes, I know I'm behind the times) - they are fantastic. I forsee many uses for them...jello, hard candy, chocolate, ice cubes. I may even get some when they go on clearance to make soaps and those cute crayons we're seeing everywhere at the moment.

I then topped it off with a family favorite - chocolate dipped strawberries.........you can't go wrong with those....yummy!!!

I also made 10 of these cuties for a swap I'm taking part in. I love how they came together - almost good enough to eat!!!

I used a Heather Bailey pattern to make them. I usually find her patterns quite intricate, but this one came together very easily.

A while ago I mentioned that I had finished the owl hat I was knitting, but that sewing the eyes on was taking me an age. Well, It's done. I like it and I will definately make it again, but I will do a few things differently. The one I made would fit a mans head - I guess hubby has just scored another hat:-) I will reduce the number of stitches I cast on and I'll make it about an inch and a half shorter. The owls are too cute for words though. Infact, I'm trying to work out how I can work them into a scarf so that I can make a matching set...........hmm, never done that before, but I'm determined to get it right. For anyone interested in the hat pattern, it was a freebie that I found while browsing the craftgossip.com website.

Enjoy Presidents Day tomorrow - we're lucky enough to have hubby home for the day. His company get the day off.

Until next time - keep crafting:->

CUTE VALENTINES GIFT TUTORIAL...

So here it is - my first attempt at a tutorial. If there is anything that doesn't make sense, just let me know.

Valentines Day is only 48 hours away, but you still have time to complete this cute little gift, or a few of them.

So let's get ready to transform this:

Into this:

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

- Small Bud Vase (I got mine in the floral Dept of Walmart)

- Etching Cream (I used Armor Etch)

- Sticky Back Contact Paper

- Shape or Design you want to use (I used a heart shaped cookie cutter)

- Craft Sponge Brush

- Corks (I got mine in the kitchen gadget section of Walmart)

- Rhinestones and Gem Adhesive

- Red Acrylic Paint

- Organza Ribbon and Charm

- Candy to fill vase

STEP 2

Wipe the surface of the vase you wish to etch with some white vinegar

STEP 3

Prepare your stencil, by cutting your shape out of the center of your contact adhesive.

STEP 4

Stick your contact adhesive to your vase surface.

You must make sure that the edges of your stencil are stuck down well - run your finger nail or a craft stick around the edges - we don't want the etching cream getting underneath the stencil.

STEP 5

Now for the fun part....

Apply the etching cream according to the directions on the bottle.
The Armor Etch had to be applied in a thick layer, and had to be left on for 5 minute.

Now's the time to make that quick cup of tea or coffee.........you deserve it!!!!

STEP 6

Time's up!!!

Rinse off your etching cream according to the manufacturers directions on, and then peel off the contact adhesive.

AND

Voila - look what you have created:-)

STEP 7

Now you can go ahead and embelish it as you wish.

I glued rhinestones around the etched heart shape.

I painted the top of the cork red.

I attached a heart charm to a piece of organza ribbon and tied it around the neck of the vase.

STEP 8

Fill with candy and sit back and admire you're handy work!!!

As I said previously if the instructions don't make sense or I've left something out, just let me know and I'll fix it...

Let me know if you give this a try - I'd love to hear about it:-)

LET IT SNOW......

And boy has it done that today!!!! It has been so much fun. School was cancelled today (and is again tomorrow.... can you hear the cheers!!!), as North Texas received a good coating of snow.........the last time we had this much was 1978, so they tell us!!!
The kids have had a ball - they've certainly bounced back from their colds quicker than hubby and myself.........we're still bogged down with it:(

I thought I'd share some pictures...........it could be another 32 years before we see this much snow again here!!!



Two very happy kids!!!



Let me introduce you to Psych - the psychadelic snowman!!!
Once the kids had built him, we filled spray bottles with water and food coloring, and decorated him. His back is actually red and pink.........I think he is super super cute!!!
He has been the object of adoration for others as well - we've had a number of cars stop by to take pictures:-)

Until next time, keep warm, and keep crafting!!!

I'M DELAYING IT...

Colds (I'm hoping not the flu) has decended on our family - 3 of us have come down with it in the past 48 hours.........Girl Child is the only one left standing, although she's just told me her throat is now sore, while the nebulizer hisses in the background........yuk...yuk...yuk!!!

I'm going to delay the tutorial I promised yesterday for a day or two......while I tend to the sick ones and hopefully get some rest myself.

Keep warm, the snow is on its way and don't forget to take your Vitamin C.......this isn't fun:-(
I'll be back in a couple of days.

PINK, PINK, AND MORE PINK.....

My favorite color:->

Today I mailed my baby nieces valentines gift to her...............it won't arrive before Valentines Day (it has to cross an ocean ...), but lucky for me at just over a year old she's not going to know!!!

Being a Valentines gift, it gave me the opportunity to use as much pink as I liked......oh how happy that made me:-)

So to begin with, she needs her own special towel to dry off that little bundle of cuteness when she goes to her swimming lessons, this should take care of it...... even the towel has hearts on it !!!

Next, who can pass up the offer of a babygro (onsie) marked down to 50c..................certainly not me. However, it was pink, long sleeved, and just plain - it needed a bit of jazzing up.....enter the remnants bin at Joanns. 15 minutes later and look what we have...........

Next, I found THE most perfect babygro ever made..............you'll see why in the picture!!! There was a problem though, it was too small for her, and they didn't make it in any bigger size. Not to be put off, I came up with a plan, and here is the result................I LOVE it..........for many reasons!!!

See what I mean:-) what auntie wouldn't love it!!!! I cut out the design in a heart shape. I then ruffled some pink ribbon with my sewing machine, tucked it under the edges of the heart and zig zagged it all onto a bigger white T shirt...........super easy and super cute!!! I think I'll have the photo of her wearing it enlarged to poster size.....Hee...Hee:-)

Tommorrow I'm going to do a tutorial (my first one) on a sweet, little Valentines gift that my kids will be giving to their teachers on Friday. I can't promise it'll be perfect, but we'll learn as we go along. So come back and visit again soon.

AHOY MATEY......

You know those days when you go to bed feeling like you achieved a lot that day..............well today is one of those days for me:-> I LOVE them!!!

Both Girl Child and Boy Child went to birthday parties today.......... as I've mentioned before the 2010 Gift of the Year is the ever so useful totable towel!!! So this morning I quickly whipped up two of them.................nothing like leaving it to the last minute, I know. I don't think I'll ever get tired of making them - they really are so quick and easy.

There was an added bonus to the baseball one - when I went to Target to buy the towels, I found this one at the bottom of a pile - it was the perfect color, and lucky for me was marked as a clearance item, with a price tag of 98 cents.................yes, you read that right!!! I was a happy girl!!! There's nothing like a bargin to make you feel good.

Girl Childs party was a mystery party and she was asked to dress like a pirate. When I pulled out the pattern at 11pm last night, I realised I was going to have to improvise - not enough time for anything that elaborate. So, to my closet I went, pulled out an old white T Shirt and got to work on it with the scissors........... some elastic and a belt later, and we had a pirate top. The skirt was also a 15 minute job to put together, and there we had it, a pirate outfit. She looked quite cute, if I say so myself!!! What do you think?

Well Valentines Day is not far off...........I'm going to have to get moving on the goodies I want to make for that.

Have a happy day tommorrow, and keep crafting.

HAPPY FEBRUARY...

Hello friends and happy February - I love this month, and I'm sure it's all to do with the amount of pink you see around!!!!

I have a few things to show you, not as many as I'd have liked, but some none the less.

Tommorrow my apron, martini glass and other goodies will be on their way to my partner for the Martini Madness Swap - I hope she like them:->

The apron turned out to be so cute, and very cocktaily I thought.

I have also seen these really cool fabric coasters on a number of websites recently, and thought that I should give them a try. They were described as being really quick and easy to make - let me tell you, they were not lying. 15 minutes was all it took me, from scraps of fabric to 4 completely made, ready to send coasters. They're also a great way to use up scraps - if you can get a 5 by 5 inch square out of the scrap, you can use it. So, with further ado, this is what they look like..................see what I mean....cute:->

I have also finished knitting the owl hat I was making - I can't share it yet though, as I haven't finished sewing the button eyes on yet. They're taking longer for me to do than knitting it did!!! It's what I do in the carpool line while I'm waiting to fetch the kids from school.

February's theme for our YOE Swap is fairies............I am so happy about this:-> I have found a ton of great, free tutorials for making a variety of fairies........... I'm spoilt for choice. I think I'll have to give a few of them a try. Keep popping back, and I'll share them once my partner recieves them.

Thanks for popping by...................come back and visit again soon.