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Dingy to Darling

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Ruffles and fabric flowers are popping up everywhere.  And I needed a little something green for Olivia to wear to school on St. Patrick’s Day.  I started fooling around and I got sort of carried away.  But it’s okay because the other girls need green attire for their 10-minute preschool walk-thru in the morning.  My favorite part of the project is the onesie makeover for Addie.  When a white onesie has made it’s way through two older sisters, it needs a bit more than Biz and Bleach.  I tried ruffles to spruce it up and I love the result.  Talk about dingy to darling!  Want to make one?  Here’s how I did it:
Pretty St. Patty tops ready for preschool:
A closer look at the fabric flowers for the hair or clothes:
I love the frayed edges.  You could go to the trouble of turning your edges or using a non-fraying material if you’re not feeling it, but this was so quick to do and it works for me.

File Folder Baby Announcement

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No, I did not have another baby (wink), but I am a believer in making cute and equal keepsakes for all my girls, even if it takes a while.  This announcement for Grace sits on the bookcase in her room and I smile every time I look at it.  It’s busy.  It’s bright.  It has ribbon and chipboard.  What else do you need? 

Instructions: 
1. Cut a 12×12 sheet of solid cardstock into a rectangle or file folder shape measuring 10×7.  Fold in half  and round outer corners so that you have a 5×7 card base.
2.  Cut three 1-inch strips of patterned paper and align diagonally from left bottom to top right on the front of the announcement.
3.  Stamp elephant crowd with brown ink onto solid cardstock and cut out.  Apply to bottom left corner. 
4.  Using six 3-inch pieces of ribbon, fold each piece in half and staple along back flap (this is the file folder label area on my announcement). 
5.  Embellish front with three flower/brad combinations, completed tag, and a small knot of ribbon.
6.  Lay chipboard letter face down on patterned paper and trace.  Cut out letter and glue onto the chipboard.  Sand edges.  Use foam adhesive dots to apply the letter to the front of the announcement.  (The foam adhesive “pops” the letter and gives the piece an extra layer of dimension).

Products used:  cardstock:  hollyhock solid carstock by Close to My Heart, patterned paper:  MME “everyday tango” by Lisa Cohen, ribbon: Designer Ribbon Rounds (hollyhock) by Close to My Heart , tag:  7Gypsies, Stamp:  “Nursery Bash” by Close to My Heart, brads: American Crafts, flowers and chipboard letter: from my stash, staples: office supply (I think it’s funny when magazines list “office supply” for staples…duh)

This post is linked with:
Sumo’s Sweet Stuff: Market Yourself Monday
The Girl Creative: Just Something I Whipped Up

Halloween Countertop Creations

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Olivia spotted a very sparkly, very pricey “haunted house” in a catalog a while back. I pinned up the picture with promises of making one ourselves. After painting a milk carton, a cracker box, and a couple cake boards with not-so-full-coverage paint, the wind blew them off the deck and I ran out and bought myself another birthday present, the Winter Wonderland cartridge for Cricut. Have you seen this thing? It is amazing. Not only does it have a cool font and some fun wintery pictures, but it cuts out the pieces to construct AN ENTIRE VILLAGE. A little black glitter paint, a little orange paper, a couple pre-made accents, and VOILA! we made our own sparkly Halloween village. This was so much fun. The houses I put together in the evening and the girls helped me paint the base board, the fences, and glue on the accents. Fun, easy, and really cool, don’t you think? Now, if only I had the big Cricut . . .

Today I am inspired.

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I woke up today and I *knew* it was going to be a great day. I’ve been smiling all day, smiling as the girls smear tuna and candy cane across the house. It was fine, because I knew today was a great day and I was so very thankful that they were happy and pleased to have their cute little mittens on the snacks and on the furniture. I also made a craft with Liv. Since she’s so excited to be turning four in just over a month, the inevitable “How many more days until…?” has been coming up quite frequently. Myself being quite visual, I decided that we should make one of those paper chains and begin the count down!! So Livi and I pulled down the calendar and counted the days until her birthday (did you know that she can read the number 27?) Cool, huh! Then I got out some scraps of paper in blue and green (to represent her mermaid party) and the mandatory pink, and we got to cutting 34 strips. Then, we did some patterning up at the island and, since I was having a great day, I was oh-so-patient as we practiced pink-blue-green over and over until we had 34 links stapled together and strewn over the kitchen chandelier. I reflected on how great I felt having done a craft AND managed to throw in quite a bit of enrichment, what with the counting, cutting (okay, so the cutting only produced three strips) number recognition, and patient patterning. Even Gracie was chanting pink-blue-green along with us. She also pushed Addie around the kitchen in the swing so that Addie could get a closer look and get enriched, too. Off to naps for everyone and I pulled my project for the afternoon – making a paper bird mobile. Tracing and tracing, I thought about how I wished that I had more activities to do with the kids. The planning and getting materials ready is really the tough part. I also thought about how awesome it would be if I could feed my soul with a little crafting and simultaneously enrich the girls’ days! And it came to me in a big rush of overwhelming inspiration. I am beginning this dream of mine, it’s me. Inspired. It is truly a great day.

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