Urban Daisies

Decorating for Christmas

2011-11-26T17:45:00.001-06:00

I love decorating for Christmas. And I love looking around at all the awesome decorating on Pinterest and blogland. So many great ideas!

Here is a peek into some of my Christmas decorating this year. As you can tell, I love anything that is vintage or has a vintage feel to it. And I love collecting old scales.

And Buddy the Elf even came to see us this year.

I have lots of fun plans for him every night. ;)

I found 101 ideas here.

A&J

Lemonade Stand Lessons...NOT Learned...

2011-07-14T10:41:00.001-05:00

It's summertime. We LOVE summertime around here. And every summer I make a bucket list of fun things I want to make sure the girls get to experience. Loved seeing all the little lemonade stands in blogger land and of course immediately put this on my list. I was even in the process of coming up with my lemonade stand design and thinking how much fun the girls would have helping me make it....until..... I saw this cute cardboard stand come up on Zullily.

And for a great price......Bam! Exactly what we needed. I should have realized then that cutting corners wasn't going to give me the homemade lemonade stand experience I thought it was going to be. I had this vision that the girls would learn a good lesson about hard work and the value of making a dollar. Here's a rundown of what they really learned.

Lesson # 1. It takes time and money and some hard work to get started on your business. Nope. It really doesn't. Mom ordered our stand online and she even made our lemonade for us while we danced around and sang, "we get to have a lemonade stand." (Ok, so I went with Strawberry ice tea instead for all you detailed oriented people saying, why is her lemonade so dark)

Lesson # 2. It takes a little time to build up a customer base. We live in a neighborhood that doesn't get much traffic so don't expect to get a ton of customers and not everyone will stop so let's not get our panties in a wad if they don't stop. Wrong. You should have seen the masses of people that came out of their houses. Not to mention, every single person that drove by stopped as well. This also helped them learn that mom isn't always right. Geez.

Lesson # 3. It takes thought into how much to charge for your product. No one will pay $25 for a glass of lemonade (As Brynley suggested) Nope. Wrong. Apparently sweet strangers will gladly give these two Rascals $10 and even $20 for small glasses of not very good Strawberry Iced Tea. EVEN after I informed them it's not a fundraiser, it's just for fun.

They made $40 in less than 30 minutes.

Go figure....so the lessons I thought they were going to learn didn't actually pan out the way I thought they would. No biggy, the girls did thoroughly enjoy it and we even got to meet some very nice neighbors that we had not met yet. It's still summer fun and that's what's really important.

ps. I just might quit my day job and team up with these two to sale lemonade for a living. :)

A&J

Teacher Appreciation

2011-07-11T13:35:00.000-05:00

There are always teachers to thank....

It's so hard coming up with ideas to show how much we appreciate our teachers. At the girls school, they have several teachers and aides that help in each classroom. So buying gifts for everyone that helps is quite difficult. Not to mention each teacher has a different personality so what equally fits everyone? I have the answer....

Yummy Desserts!!

Angel Food Delight with a cute tag

saying "LCCS Teachers are the sweetest Angels!"

And my most famous Banana Pudding Trifle. This recipe is soo super yummy and it was handed down to me by someone that said I was not allowed to give it out. It's a hit everywhere I take it and it makes me feel like I am the best cook ever. :)

The tag says, "We go Bananas with appreciation for our LCCS Teachers and helpers!"

I took a dessert in Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of that week and the teachers were all very thrilled. The 3rd dessert was magic bars with a tag saying "LCCS Teachers know how to work that teacher magic!" I somehow didn't get a picture. :( I think these would be good for summer camp teachers, sunday school teachers, and even all the other little teachers that help us along the way.

A&J

Where the Wild Things Are...Halter T-Shirt Dress

2011-07-08T14:46:00.000-05:00

Thought I would share another cute version of the T shirt Halter dress we've already featured. This dress pattern from Here is my favorite because there are endless options. I know I originally said this was so difficult to make because t-shirt material is hard to sew. But after trying again and reading the helpful hints in the instructions (a little trick called starch), this one went much smoother. I will definitely be making more!! Here's a "Where the Wild Things Are" version that I made using a men's T-shirt found at Walmart.

This little cutie's favorite book is Where the Wild Things Are so her entire birthday party centered around this theme. I'll have to post the most adorable party favor her mom made for everyone in a later post.

The animal print is from a pair of leggings my daughter grew out of. I'm pretty sure they were from Target.

Here's a closeup of the pocket. The wording was on the back of the T. I just hand stitched it on with coordinating yellow thread.

I do have one confession...I love using ruffles at the bottom, but I've never sat down long enough to learn how to make them. I'm so impatient!! So, I save outgrown clothing that already have ruffles on them. Cut the ruffle off and sew on the dress. It makes this dress so easy and so fast too! I whipped this one up in less than an hour. Pretty cool for my limited crafting time. Love it!!!!

A&J

Vintage Baby Shower

2011-07-07T11:12:00.003-05:00

Loved, Loved, Loved this shower! It was so fun to put together.

Here's the invite....

The Table...

It's so great to have best buds that have cool stuff you can borrow. My "partner in crime" and I have the same taste so when I needed stuff for this shower, I was able to raid her stuff so I didn't have to pull everything off my shelves and from around my house. It worked out MORE than perfect. :)

A&J

Happy Fourth Blogger Friends...

2011-07-06T09:58:00.005-05:00

A few days late, but I couldn't help but post this All American adorable pic of our 4th fun to show a collection of bandana dresses/shirts/outfits as featured as a tutorial last year.

As a collection, it's so stinking cute.

Anyway, it makes me smile. I hope it makes you smile as well.

A&J

Ideas for the 4th

2011-06-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

Looking through many of our favorite blogs, I've found some great ideas for the 4th of July.

We always have a big get together with lots of neighbors, friends and family on the 4th for some hot dogs and fireworks. Take a look at these great ideas I've found that I plan on trying to use this year:

First off, a vintage decorated table. I love anything vintage, so the theme and colors of this are right up my alley. Love, love what they did here.

source: pizzazzerie

Also, from the same great site I found some FREE awesome printables. Not only do I love this poster of Uncle Sam, but the colors are my fav. And they all match with the table setup.

source: pizzazzerie printables

And how cute are these little flags!

{And they give a great little tutorial on how to make them.}

source: saltwater-kids

Of course we need some tye-dyed cupcakes.

{I have made some similar to these when I did camo cupcakes for my sons Army Party. They really were easy and fun.}

source: caffeinatedglobe

These brownie kabobs look awesome and easy.

My husbands favorite, chocolate and strawberries.

source: craftyconfessions

And one more thing for the kiddos. What a great idea!

source: cometogetherkids

Have a fun and safe 4th!

A&J

Sports Birthday Party

2011-04-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

We had my son's 6th birthday party this last weekend. He kept saying that he wanted to have his party at one of those Bounce house places (where all the kids run around and jump on the inflatables). I wasn't too thrilled with the idea because how in the world was I supposed to put all my decorative little touches on everything??

I convinced him to have the party in our back yard again (we did this cool army party last year and the kids still talk about it). He agreed, but only after I said I was going to paint our entire backyard like a football field! Score! I got my way... :)

Here's a shot of 50 yard line of the field.... (the K is for our last initial).

The snack table was loaded up with all kind of ballpark goodies. Cupcakes that I decorated like basketballs, soccerballs, footballs and baseballs. Oreo truffles decorated like footballs (these were good and went fast!), tons of hot dogs wrapped in foil (ballpark style), bags of chips, popcorn, peanuts, twizzlers, chocolates and bubblegum and sunflower seeds.

{I found the cool popcorn buckets at the Dollar Tree! Love them!}

The kids did some relay races (spin on the bat &, carry the ping pong ball on a spoon down the field and back), some bean bag tosses, throwing contests, stick the ball on the target which was left over from last years army party (played like pin the tail on the donkey), a homerun derby and we had a pinata for the kids to swing at! We had several other games on our list, but actually ran out of time.

The invites were made in Photoshop and just printed on white cardstock. I used papers and elements from this Game On Digital Scrapbooking Kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.

I actually used the balls from this kit also for the target game and also for labels for all the food etc.

It was such a fun and easy party to put together! Perfect for all those sports fanatics!

A&J

Roller Skating Birthday Party

2011-02-16T20:00:00.007-06:00

Party time again...

After googling Skating Parties, and visiting all my favorite party blogs, I realized there are not a ton of ideas on roller skating parties. I felt on my own and that I would actually have to resort to using my own creativeness. I must say, I've gotten quite spoiled to finding cute ideas online. I felt a little bit in a panic. So, I buckled down and put my creative juices to work. It all started with this fun image of these cute roller skates I found online. Used it to photoshop this invite below.

Thus, establishing the colors. Purple, Pink & Green.

Next, I created these matching cupcake tags.

To be put on these cute little cupcakes in coordinating colors...

Then I made a larger matching cupcake tag for the birthday girl's cupcake. I had this scallop shape that my partner in crime found online. I printed it to the size I needed then just used it as a guide to cut out the purple paper stock.

Next up, birthday girl's matching attire. I couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I chose to make her shirt myself so I could match it to the party colors. Can't help myself when it comes to animal print. Had to add it. I might be slightly addicted to animal print. :)

Here's a close up. I simply cut out coordinating fabric pieces and stitched them onto the shirt. The purple bows are ribbon that I put a stitch on and then tied in a knot.

For the party favors we decided on extra large pixie sticks. I usually stray away from too much candy, but we handed these out for Halloween and it was so fun seeing how much kids faces light up when you hand them one. It's my new go to candy to hand out to "other kids." Sadly and I hear about it often, but my own poor, poor kiddos have only eaten maybe two themselves. Anyway, I digress....I then tied on a glow in the dark bracelet, zany band rings, and of course the thank you tag.

Here's are the tags themselves. Feel free to print and borrow. I fully intended to have Brynley sign them to add a personal touch, but that did not happen.

To complete the party...Add a cute little sister in a matching shirt.

And a few great friends....

What more could a sassy 7 year old girl ask for?

I Loved putting this party together. I know we say that about every single party, because we secretly would love to be party planners for little kids birthday parties, but this was a neat one to put together. The Skating center is available for private parties so we were able to take over the whole place and they even played our own music for us that we brought on the Ipod. We played red light green light and danced to a few line dance songs to close the party. From the kiddos to even us bigger kiddos, we all had a great fun time. Brings back so many memories strapping on a pair of roller skates. :)

A&J

Shabby Bedroom

2011-02-09T14:28:00.001-06:00

I just realized I've never blogged about Brynley's room. Since her middle name is Rose, I have always felt that she's a soft shabby chic kind of girl accented by roses. And since she's now decided she does not like pink, I'm slowing working on transitioning things to blue or turquoise. So, here's a few shots of her not much longer pink room.

Bed: Land of Nod

Bedding: Rachel Aswell, Target

Accent pillows are MIA. I make her make her bed herself and she claims all the pillows are too much work so she actually hides them from me so she doesn't have to put them all on.

I'm also comissioning a painting now to go over her bed. :) (that's a really fancy word for I bought a 1/2 off canvas from Hobby Lobby and I've asked a relative who can paint really well to copy a very expensive art piece that I found. :) It's a big rose basically and yes it's going to be pink.

I made this framed B piece myself. I found the wood "B" on ebay and then found a fancy frame at Hobby Lobby and painted it pink. Just added fabric and ribbon to some wood with the B on top and popped it into the frame. The Rose knobs are from Anthropology and are the perfect match to this room.

A&J

Fancy Chandelier

2011-01-28T08:25:00.001-06:00

I've been looking for the perfect light fixture for Katie's room. You might remember from and earlier post that everything in the room is Pink/Black and White. I originally ordered a fancy all black, more traditional looking chandelier only to find out that it had been sold out and I couldn't find it anywhere else. I was devastated because her sister already had her fancy chandelier and Katie had a terrible looking, cheapest you could find gross ceiling fan. Not that I have anything against ceiling fans, it just wasn't a very cute ceiling fan. Not to mention it simply had not glamour. This room needed some BLING. So here it is in all it's glory.

Ta da....

These pics do not do it justice at all. In fact, it is so glamorous that everyone that has walked into the room has said "WOW" that's an incredible light. I found it on Overstock and even for a great price and looking at just the pics, I never would have chosen it. But I happened to stumble across a similar light at a booth at a local designer market and fell in love with it. It was even 1/2 the price of the original light I was trying to order. Just proof that some things just work out for a reason. :)

A&J

Valentines Day Cards

2011-01-26T09:32:00.001-06:00

I know, you've seen these everywhere in blogger land and I really don't know who to give this credit to, but here's my spin on it and I do love how they turned out. The girls loved them as well.

I love blogger land. You guys always have such fun fantastic ideas. I never fret anymore when parties roll around because I know someone out there will have the perfect idea for me.

Happy getting ready for Valentines day!!

A&J

Audrey Hepburn Sign

2010-12-28T10:51:00.001-06:00

I think this project deserves it's own post.

I found this decal quote on etsy and knew I had to have it for the girls playroom. Since it is Audrey Hepburn I couldn't resist Tiffany's box blue. I bought a sheet of wood and had it cut to size at the local hardware store. I did have to make some modifications because the decal wasn't in this square format. I simply cut it by sentence and placed it where needed. I also googled the closest color match to the Tiffany's box and found out that the closet match is Behr Sweet Rhapsody. I was so pleased to find out that it actually is a very close match. I also added the infamous white ribbon. At first I debated painting a white line around the edges and hanging it with the white ribbon, but my wall space did not allow for what I wanted exactly. So I came up with this and I do like it. It's also removable so if I ever move it to a different wall space I may change it back to the original plan.

It's a perfect accent for the girls playroom.

A&J

Incorporating all those gifts...

2010-12-27T14:52:00.000-06:00

Ok, now that Christmas is over, what do you do with all the extra STUFF you thought was a great gift idea, but then didn't give much thought to how it would actually fit in your house. Luckily I was able to make a few moves in the playroom for these fun new gifts.

Katie got this adorable Disney talking vanity from Santa...

It can't sit in a corner all by itself, so I made this Audery Hepburn sign to go with it. I tried to make it look like a Tiffany's box. Decal from Etsy and I googled the actual paint color for a Tiffany' box. I can save you time and reveal the big secret here..... Behr Sweet Rhapsody. It's a perfect match and I love it. I bought extra so I can use this color more.

Added a few other frames and voila. Her own vanity corner. I already know I'll add more to this corner. I'm loving it.

Since I was taking pics of the playroom, I couldn't help to snap a pic of the kitchen corner just because I really like it.

I found this little shelf at a garage sale and painted it black. Guess what color it's going to change to now. :) Anyway, I digress. I let the girls pick some items out of the pantry that they thought would be fun for their pretend kitchen. Yes, they are all empty.

This playroom is so much fun to decorate. It is a challenge because it's one big long room with an odd angled ceiling. It makes decorating the walls almost impossible. It's always a work in progress. But it sure is fun. Makes me want to post more areas. I actually have to clean them first. As you might guess, it's not exactly pristine.

A&J

Merry Christmas

2010-12-23T09:02:00.002-06:00

This years Christmas card.

I'm that person that has to make you smile when you open our card. Cheesier the better. So, this year.....I dreamed big...

My BIG ambitions were to stack them. The little sister sitting on top of big sisters shoulders, lights wrapped around them, and holding a star on top like a Christmas tree. All the while Big sister holding the reindeer doggy. Sounds simple right. Apparently, I dreamed too BIG. After several failed attempts, we wound up with this. All sitting SAFELY in a chair. It still made me smile so I hope it makes you smile too.

On a side note...I wanted to send our card to the shelter where we adopted this cute little reindeer doggy, but my husband thinks they may consider this torture. :)

A&J

Free Printable Scripture Word Art

2010-12-16T17:23:00.000-06:00

Found this awesome printable here.

I was able to change up the color a bit to match my color theme and use it on my Christmas cards this year!

Love how it turned out!

{Of course you could always just print it as is and frame it to use for your Christmas decorating!}

On the Christmas Card: Papers found here and here. Elements from various kits at my favorite digital scrapbooking shop here.

A&J

Christmas Gift Tags

2010-12-11T09:34:00.001-06:00

Below are some gift tags I made for all my packages this year.

Feel free to download here, cut out and enjoy!

{Sized for 8.5 x 11 paper, 300 dpi}

A&J

Advent Calendar/ Christmas Countdown

2010-12-04T14:48:00.002-06:00

We haven't ever had an advent calendar in our house. Only because I haven't really seen one that I just fell in love with. I saw so many ideas found from blog land at Tatertots and Jello. Wow the creative bar just gets higher and higher!

This below is my take on the advent calendar. It was mentioned to me by someone as a tradition they did with their kids every Christmas and it was something that their kids remembered even after they were grown and out of the house.

The idea is that you have 24 books to read with your child or children. One for each day up till Christmas, with the final book read on the Christmas eve being "The Night Before Christmas" of course. They can be all Christmas books or even special books that your family likes to read. They can be books you already have or add a few new ones each year. Because really, most of the fun for the kids is getting to open a present each day....

{It's also good incentive to get the kids in the jammies and ready for bed each night!}

And if you haven't started yet this year, don't worry just start today with less books.

It's just a tool to countdown to Christmas!

Need some cute tags to add to your books?

You can download the # tags I've used here.

Linked up here @ Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party.

A&J

Family Game Night Basket

2010-12-02T21:25:00.001-06:00

It's that time of year again.....

Here is a cute Family Christmas gift idea to get a whole family with kids. Family Game Night Basket. What family doesn't enjoy some fun new games to play together. I put two of these together for a couple of fun families I know.

I found a few fun age appropriate games...

Ornaments that match the family. This year one family bought a camper and camped all summer. The other family adopted a new toy yorkie this year.

Next and one of my favorites, I made each family a

memory game set, all with pictures of all of the kids from various get togethers throughout the year.

Closeup of the front and back of the memory game. Modge Podge does rock!

Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!!

A&J

My "Go-to" Christmas Gift This Year...

2010-11-27T21:07:00.002-06:00

I tend find a "go-to" gift each year that I like to give as Christmas gifts.

Last year, my "go-to" gifts were Scentsy candle warmers.

I absolutely love these things! I have several in my house and they are frequently on.

If you don't have one of these, I'd highly recommend trying one.

Find a consultant in your area at www.scentsy.net

{My favorite scents: Hemingway, Cinnamon Bear, Welcome Home, & Olive Wood & Cypress.}

Anyway, my "go-to" gift this year comes from a local shop that has now been seen all over the country!

The Vintage Pearl.

They have many items that are already put together, or you can create your own custom necklace or bracelet.

And layer it up as much as you want.

They are all made in the shop and hand stamped.

Here are just a few of the necklaces that I have so far.

I've got some custom orders coming in within the next week and am excited to hand them out for Christmas!

A little teacher gift....

Go check out their website and their blog!

Great personalized gifts!

{Note: Christmas orders at The Vintage Pearl do have to be in by Dec 3!)

A&J

Glittery Stuff....

2010-11-20T18:00:00.014-06:00

After watching Miss Mustard Seed's glitter tutorial, I knew I had to try out the German glass glitter she talked about.

I happened to find a small bottle of light blue German glass glitter at a local shop and snatched it up. When I got home I did a little glitter comparison. I had on hand some glitter paint, regular glitter, and my new glass glitter. OH MY GOODNESS..... the glass glitter is amazing!!!

The beauty of it is truly something you have to see in person. It simply catches the light in the most perfect way. And have you ever touched something with regular glitter only to have glitter all over you for the rest of the day?? This glitter does not do that.

The only drawback... it can be a little pricey. {Although I think it's well worth the extra you pay for it}

I just received a few ounces of silver that I had ordered

and I've got a slew of things that I'm ready to create with it!
Here are a few little things I've made so far....

So pretty! LOVE this stuff....
And just in time for decorating for Christmas!

A&J

Music Sheet Bows

2010-11-20T10:00:00.007-06:00

While I had the music sheets and hot glue out I figured I'd try to make some of these bows for my upcoming Christmas wrapping. I've seen them made with old book pages and even old magazines.

I know there's many different ways to make bows like this, but here's a quick tutorial of how I made mine:

First cut some 3/4 inch strips from some sheet music.

You will need:

3 ~ 8.5 inch strips, 3 ~ 7 inch strips & 1 3 inch strip.

I twisted them around to make these shapes and hot glued them into place.

{note: you could also use double stick tape, glue dots, staples or whatever you have on hand}

Start assembling by taking the 3 larger ones and gluing them into a shape like this:

Continue with the second row and then the 1 smaller loop in the middle.

I chose some simple kraft brown paper and some twine to go with my bow.

And there you have it, simple and unique wrapping for the holidays or any occasion!

A&J

Music Sheet Christmas Tree Tutorial

2010-11-13T19:31:00.006-06:00

Today I made one of these cute little music sheet trees.

Here's a little tutorial to make one of your very own.

It's very simple really.....

What you will need is a styrofoam cone, some sheet music, scissors and a hot glue gun.

First off, I cut the music in 2 inch strips.

Then took the strips and curled them a bit.

{I used the end of a wooden spoon and that seemed to work well}

Then I cut slits all alog the bottom about halfway up.

Take these pieces and hot glue them around the cone.

One row at a time.

Keep going till you get to the top!

It's really that easy....

Although I think it may need something at the top.
I haven't thought of anything yet.
What do you think?
Any ideas??

Need some free sheet music for the project??
I have a page here you can download and print (8.5x11).
It looks best on some sort of antique or ivory finish paper to make it look a little vintage. Enjoy!

Linked up at Funky Junk's SNS
and at Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party
and Under The Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase Party.

A&J

50's style party

2010-11-04T18:41:00.000-05:00

Every year my daughter's school finds a neat way around letting the kids dress up as anything scary for their Halloween party. I love the effort her little school goes through to make such fun experiences for the kids. Even though I wind up buying two costumes because she's usually already chosen and had me order something else before we find out the school's theme....I have to admit I didn't mind one bit this year because this year they declared.... 50's style. How FUN!! Of course we had to order this cute poodle skirt from Etsy. And these over sized glasses from Party America or whatever their latest name is.

The party lasted all day with different activities throughout the day. They did everything from face painting, to playing games and working on crafts that was to be used for their big surprise finale. The finale and the highlight of the day was a surprise drive in movie. They turned their entire classroom into one big drive in movie and watched Toy Story 3. They made the cutest cars out of card board boxes, complete with snack trays, and their own personalized licensed plates and their own drivers license.

The kids enjoyed movie popcorn and snacks that they kept in their snack trays attached to the side of their cars. So cute and creative.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed this as well as the parents. My wheels are already spinning on how to incorporate this fun idea into a future birthday party, or even just a fun backyard drive in summer movie night. :)

A&J

A Bit of Fall Decor

2010-10-22T08:40:00.004-05:00

Gosh, I've been so busy lately that it's already the middle of October and I'm just now starting to pull out fall decorations!

I love looking at others blogs and how they've decorated for the season. So here's a peek into mine. I decided not to go overboard on all the fall foliage this year and just make it pretty simple. Just a few touches of fall here and there......

Centerpiece on my kitchen table.

And finally a shot of the fireplace mantel.
{I'm loving the white pumpkins mixed with all the orange this year}

Pretty simple this year, but I really like it!

A&J

My favorite birthday gift to give and get

2010-10-12T08:38:00.000-05:00

My all time favorite go to gift idea right now is cute Pj's and a good book. I not only love giving this as a gift, But I also love when the girls get it as well. Parent's appreciate this gift so much because it's not just another toy that's quickly put aside after 5 minutes of play. What's more fun than to snuggle up in some cute pj's and read a good book together. I've given this exact gift so many times.

One set of Fancy Nancy PJ's

Paired with the Fancy Nancy Pajama Day book.....

And Voila! The most fabulous (which is a fancy word for great) most appreciated birthday gift ever. Occasionally I've found a cute sleep mask or some cute fluffy slippers to throw in as well.

The best thing about this idea is that it is such a versitile idea. For a recent boys gift I found How to Train Your Dragon Pj's and paired it with a How to Train Your dragon book. For this gift I had also found a wooden sword and shield set that I put with it. Talk about one happy little boy! He loved it.

A&J

Gift Idea for the Busy Mom

2010-10-11T11:32:00.002-05:00

I spend countless hours trying to find just the right gifts for friends and family. I find great joy in giving the perfect gift. Doesn't have to cost a ton, it just has to match the person's personality as well as their needs at the time. I recently struggled with a gift for a very close friend of mine because I wanted it to be even more than perfect. She's going through a lot just losing her mother and now is having to take care of her father who is very sick. With two young girls of her own, she's basically keeping up two households. So, with all that said, I came up with this.

This adorable apron found here.

a popular slow cooker cookbook found anywhere and everywhere.

and since another good friend went in with me, we also had the budget for an awesome crockpot as well so she could whip up tasty meals and leave at her dads.

I had envisioned opening the box and putting the apron, and cookbook in it with a couple of wooden spoons, but timing wise, it just didn't work out. The gift was a hit regardless.

A&J

Halloween bottle labels

2010-10-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

By popular demand, we are reposting this post. Please post your creations so we can see too. Happy Halloween all!!

It's officially the beginning of Fall today and that means that Halloween is just around the corner. Found these awesome bottle labels at Love Manor's flicker site. Wow, all the possibilities with these for a Halloween party!

Simply visit the flicker site to download the labels and print them out to make your table spread a little more spooky and interesting.

I'm envisioning the "Poison" on a bottle of green soda, the "Vampire Blood" on a bottle of red soda or juice, and lots of small glass jars with candy labeled with the

"deathly morsels" and "rotten sweets" etc.......

Don't you just love these?

A&J

Non-Scary Halloween Decor

2010-10-03T17:55:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again. My challenge in decorating for Halloween is to make it the least scary I can make it. Two little girls who don't sleep through the night in the first place, I certainly don't want to add anything that can give them more excuses to find their way into our bed. Please don't judge. :)

Love these trees I found last year at HL. Added the cute little animal print spider I found at Pier One.

Cute scarecrow family of 4.

A friend emailed me a Halloween mantel and I just had to steal the hanging spider idea. Too cute!

This one is subject to much discussions with our 3 year old. She's very upset that this witch could be smashed under the couch. We may have to put this one away and try again next year.

Love these cute Halloween balls I found at I think Marshalls. Still trying to find some other fun things to add to all the other glass jars that are not candy related. More to come on that later.

Last but certainly not least. Our beloved Charlotte makes another appearance this year. Adorned with of course a cute Halloween bow.

Happy Halloween!!

A&J

Reverse Applique Tee

2010-09-29T13:10:00.005-05:00

I've seen these cute tees around that have the reverse applique done on them. In fact, I even had one custom made from a local shop in town. I just love the look of them!

I know, I know. This idea has been around forever!

But here's MY first attempt at reverse applique...

Let's take a closer look.

Not bad huh?

{Note: We may just happen to be Texas Tech Red Raider fans. And since my husband got roped into coaching our 5 yr old's soccer team we took the liberty of naming our team the RAIDERS as well!}

Anyway, here's how I made this little tee.....

First off you have to have a borderline ADD active child that wants to play outside ALL day long.

This allows you the couple of hours you need to just sit in a chair outside and accomplish this task.

Just sayin'.

To start, I grabbed an old tee that actually had a little hole already in the front. (This got rid of that problem!)

Then I pinned the zebra print fabric on the inside front of the shirt, right where I was planning to put the letters.

I picked a font out in MS Word, changed it to outline, printed and cut the letters out & then just traced around the letters onto the tee with a pen (I used a regular black pen and was able to see my markings fine, but I know they have fabric pens around as well).

Now you take your embroidery floss (in my case, red) and hand stitch around each letter till your done. (I'll admit, the longer the word your doing be prepared to sit and sew for a while!)

Then it will look something like this....

And a pic of the inside of the tee. Notice I used my pinking shears around the zebra print fabric. This should help keep it from fraying.

After that, I ironed a bit of fusible interfacing to cover all of the stitching and zebra fabric. This will help keep it all together during washing and wearing.

Here's the fun part!

{This is where you get to see the "magic".}

Grab a sharp pair of scissors and carefully cut the tee away right up next to the stitching of each letter to expose the fabric underneath.

SO COOL!

I played around and also added stitching along the shoulders and neck across the back of the tee and a bit of stitching at the bottom. I really like how this turned out as well.

And there you have it!

A custom tee without the expensive embroidery machine.

{Now I have my Soccer Mom tee to wear and cheer on my favorite little soccer player!}

The possibilities for this are countless.

You could do a number for your little one's birthday tee.

You could do names.

Or even your favorite college, UT, CU, BU, OSU, etc.....

A&J

Laundry Room Redo

2010-09-24T21:31:00.001-05:00

Earlier this year our dryer (which was fairly old) decided it was time to retire.
I took this opportunity to pick out some new pretty red front end loaders for my laundry room, which turned into a bit of a redo for the whole space.

I absolutely love my little laundry room now!
{it just makes me happier to do laundry. :) }

Here's the After:

Here's the Before:

Let's take a look at how this transformed.....
Here's how the framing around the washer and dryer started. We also had to put down concrete backer board before we put the tile down.

See the space between the washer and dryer... I wanted to have my trash can there for lint etc.

So we found a pre-made 10 inch cabinet that fit perfectly in between the two (knobs from Hobby Lobby) and I just painted it black!

Here is the slate tile that we picked out from Lowes. They were 1 inch tiles that came in 12 inch squares.
{note: the pretty colors of the slate come out after you have it installed and apply a sealant on top}

On the other side of the room we had this small little cutout that originally just had a folding shelf right in the middle of the two walls. Total waste of space and pretty ugly. My husband and I worked on this built in and it turned out great. All the shoes are stacked neatly under the bench and the hooks are used for coat, backpacks etc.

{Who am I kidding, I have two boys and a husband. Shoes are never stacked neatly under there, but at least I can stuff them under the bench with ease and get them out of the way for the most part. heehee. note: this is why you can only see up to the bottom of the bench in this picture. :) }

As you can tell the room is pretty small, but I think this change has made it seem so much bigger. Before we just had the space on top of the washer and dryer to use to fold laundry or set things on as we walked in the door. Now the total counter space is approx. 65x34 inches.
Huge difference!

The slate tile counter top turned out EXACTLY like I envisioned from the beginning and is beautiful. This room is a walk through from our garage to our kitchen and happens to be where most of our company follows us into the house anyway, so I'm very happy to have a nice organized space.

Linked up here:

A&J

Just a few Halloween Decorations.....

2010-09-23T12:00:00.003-05:00

A few of my Halloween Decorations!
{one of my favorite holidays to decorate for...}

Below is a shot of my dining room table.

Since we have a table in the kitchen area too, this room is really used soley for decoration. And is the first room you see when you walk into my house.

{So, no we don't eat at this table.... or I wouldn't be piling all of this stuff on it! ha!}

Let's take a closer look....

The book below was just an old book I had that I covered with kraft paper. I then used some rub on letters from my scrapbooking stash to add "book of spells" on the spine. (the black lines were just made with a sharpe marker).

The little Halloween figurines were inspired by this post from the Room to Inspire blog.
Found these two figurines at the Dollar Tree. And grabbed my can of Ivory spray paint.

Spray Painted these dudes.... then grabbed my burnt umber acrylic paint and just painted and wiped and painted and wiped etc till it looked like I wanted.

Here's how they turned out!

{notice my Dollar Tree black crow as well...}

And there you have it!

Who says you can't decorate on a budget. The pumpkins, skeleton jar, figurines and black crow were all from the Dollar Tree and I've shown you how to spruce them up! (Trick or Treat sign I got from Hobby Lobby last year).

A&J

Halloween Dollar Tree Finds

2010-09-21T12:51:00.001-05:00

I found several things this year to use in my Halloween decorating at the Dollar Tree
{Don't these skeletons just look SPOOKY!}

You can see in the picture below, it was just a 5 ft skull garland made out of foam that I stuck in a jar (which they also have at Dollar Tree) with some moss at the bottom.

Also picked up the black crow, some spanish moss for various projects and these really cool bottle labels.
I just need to find the perfect old jars and bottles to use them on!

And don't forget to check out these pumpkins I also picked up from Dollar Tree.
I just love Halloween!!

A&J

Book Page Pumpkins

2010-09-20T11:19:00.003-05:00

Earlier this year, I made some book page eggs for Easter decoration. I just loved them so much that I left them out with my other dining room decorations until just recently.

Hey, eggs aren't really just specific to Easter right?

So I used the same technique and made a few of these book page pumpkins!

{and alot easier to do that the eggs, I might add!}

Just LOVE how they turned out!

Here's a quick little run down of how I made them....

First I grabbed these items:

pumpkins: from Dollar Tree

book: From Dollar Tree

Some Mod Podge

and a bit of spanish moss if you wish.

I simply ripped the pages into various pieces and started putting them on with the mod podge glue.

{and I just realized that I've always called it "modge podge", but looking at the picture just now it clearly says "mod podge" on the bottle. Huh..... learn something new everyday I guess!!}

Here's a shot halfway through the process.

And then I added a bit of spanish moss to the top (hot glued) and stuck a piece of a tree branch from my backyard in for the stem.

That's all there is to it!

What I also love is that you can find any ugly old pumpkins you might have in a pile to get rid of and decorate them using this idea. You don't have to buy expensive pretty pumpkins!

Be sure to check back for more quick and easy Halloween decor ideas...

We've got a few more Dollar Tree finds to share with you!

A&J

Homecoming Cheer Poster

2010-09-16T17:58:00.004-05:00

Remember the days when you bought a poster board and the only other things you needed were some markers and stickers and it was really cool to know someone that could do bubble letters....

Well, those are now the dinosaur days.

Now we make posters with Bling, ribbons, tulle, PHOTOSHOP LETTERS (my personal favorite since I can't stand my own handwriting) and did I mention BLING.

There is so much bling on this poster. Even the football stitching has it! :)

A&J

Vintage Desk is Finished...

2010-09-15T23:47:00.004-05:00

What difference a can of paint makes.

Brynley chose the color and I have to admit the girl has taste. She declared in the middle of planning her last birthday party that she no longer likes pink. Big uh oh because everything she owns is pink. She also has commented several times that everything in our house are all the same colors. Looking around myself, I realize she is right. :(

So, to honor her new found decorating sense of style and taste, I agreed to her choice in color and

I LOVE IT!

It compliments her shabby chic room perfectly.

Ta Da!!!

I also let her help with every step of the process. See how much fun we had.

Next step....The Chair.

A&J

Is the crafting bug passed down?

2010-09-15T08:31:00.002-05:00

I've always dreamed of having a daugther that would appreciate and enjoy crafting as much as I do. I've envisioned spending hours of quality time working on our various projects, shopping for fun finds to "fix up", and simply enjoy sharing each others fun ideas that we find on our favorite blogs.

Up until this weekend I've tried letting the girls "help" only to find myself redoing everything they've done or just putting off whatever I'm working on until they are fast asleep.

Well, my heart floweth over this weekend when Brynley runs into the room (of course it's two minutes before we are walking out the door. I guess she got her mother's "let me fit one more thing in" bug too!) with a pair of flip flops and a bag of leftover water balloons claiming she saw this cool idea to tie balloons on flip flops and she's GOT to make a pair herself. Because I was trying to get us all out the door for lunch at my grandmothers, I tell her she'll just have to bring it with her to work on at Grandmas. She does, and proceeds to work on it in the car all the way there. She even recruited her little sister to be her Assistant to hand her each balloon. How cute is that. She was even super patient when her assistant proceeeded to tease her with handing over Every Single Balloon. She happily played along and finished her cute little flip flops. Her big smile showing her finished project was priceless and I must say, it made this momma the proudest mom I could be.

I have little crafters afterall! :)

A&J

What makes you smile?

2010-09-12T09:24:00.002-05:00

Do you have something in your house that will always make you smile?

I do.

I am absolutely in love with this framed picture series of the girls. It was one of those purchases that I regretted splurging from the minute I placed the order and handed over my bank card. It was one of those purchases that you "forget" to mention to your husband how much it really cost and pray he doesn't look at the bank account. And yes it was one of those purchases that take you back to your college budget where you automatically think ramon noodles for all this month. :)

That was until I got it back. I quickly forgot all regrets and it was one of those times I could easily say, oh wow, this is worth it. It was meant to be. The husband never even asked how much either! How great is that! (please excuse the glare)

A&J

Fun With Photoshop

2010-09-04T08:22:00.004-05:00

As you may already have read in an earlier post we have become addicted to Photoshop. I can't do anything without it now. Sometimes I get busy and post photos that have not been edited, but then it keeps me up at night. So, I've made a new vow to be better. I sat down this weekend and figured out how to use some cool new actions I recently loaded on my computer. These are my favorite newest ones.

(I think this is called a money shot. Notice the water perfectly lapping our title. That was luck not photoshop :) )

I LOVE the color boost in this one along with the burnt edges. This is so much more fun then loading the dreadful unedited photos!!!

You can download free Photoshop actions at Coffeeshop Photography.

A&J

Get Well Basket

2010-09-03T21:53:00.004-05:00

How do you put together a get well basket for a Grandpa whose had knee surgery?

It's not the easiest, but this is what we came up with.

Item list:

742-Dine gift certificate to call in food orders to participating restaurants
John Wayne DVD collection
Movie popcorn
sugar free candies (diabetic)
Starbucks ground coffee
Bailey's to add to coffee

It turned out pretty cute and the patient gave 2 thumbs up!!

A&J

Vintage Desk

2010-09-01T14:43:00.004-05:00

Finally!!!!

That's right, I read all the fun crafty blogs and get so jealous of their nifty little furniture finds. Like oh, Look at me, I just found this fabulous piece of furniture on the side of the road for FREE. Really?!? Like how does this happen to so many people so often, but never me. So now it's finally my turn...yipee!!!
Ok. So I must confess....I didn't actually find this on the side of the road and it wasn't exactly Free. But I did find it on Craig's List and it was only $60. So that's close enough right.

I'm tossing around color options with my partner in crime as I type this. hhhmmm. What will I pick.

More to come later.

A&J

Bumble Bee Birthday Party

2010-08-27T15:02:00.003-05:00

What a fun theme for a little girl's 1st birthday party. We have a crafty little friend that often inspires us with her own awesome ideas. Here are a few pics from her daughter's party.

The Cake Table...

Party Favors...

Party Hat for the Birthday Bee...

Wings and antennas for the guests to wear...

Such fun ideas!!!

A&J

Gift Idea

2010-08-12T10:03:00.002-05:00

Tickle Monster Kit

As many birthday parties we have to attend these days it gets so hard to come up with the perfect gift everytime and as obsessive as I am I'm always on the hunt for the cutest gift. AND since our "Spoilt Littles" get so many gifts these days, I love to find unique things that I know they won't already have. So while searching through all my favorite blogs I stumbled across this.

It's a tickle monster Kit complete with book and tickle monster gloves. So darn cute! I love giving and getting books for gifts. I'm already thinking through how many little ones I can order this for. If you want one too, you can find it here.

A&J

Ice Cream Birthday Party

2010-08-09T19:18:00.003-05:00

Ice Cream parties are the best!!

This party was so much fun to put together and who doesn't LOVE ice cream. That would simply be

un -American.

Here's the build your own Sundae table....

I loved the cone jars....

The local bakery decided to take the week of the party off for vacation. Can you believe the nerve. Never fret....I googled ice cream cone cupcakes and as you can imagine, thankfully and expectantly, there were numerous tutorials on how to make your own. I was very skeptical at first and did come up with my own version and voila. I have to say I am quite proud of my simple rendition. :)

The party favors.

I found the ice cream cups at our local $1 store and the bubbles at Walmart for $1. Filled them with ice cream cone bubbles also found at the $1 store and some yummy candy. Topped with white paper topping, a cherry sour and of course a pixie stick straw. To be fair I included the same candy attached to the big bubbles. I gave the cups to the girls and the big bubbles to the boys. Everyone seemed pleased.

And this is why I spend hours putting it all together.

A&J

Drive In Movie Ideas

2010-07-03T13:56:00.003-05:00

We made a summer bucket list and one of the items were to take the kids to their first Drive In. We are lucky enough to live in Tulsa and able to still go to the famous Drive In where the Outsiders was filmed. How neat to be a part of that history. Anyway, to get back on track, I made the kiddos these fun popcorn buckets to enjoy during the movie. Simple but fun.

See, how much they loved it!!

Twilight: Eclipse Party Ideas

2010-06-29T09:43:00.003-05:00

First off, for those of you non-Twilighters, just look away....

For those avid Twilight fans, we just wanted to share a few ideas for the upcoming release of the new movie in the saga, Eclipse.

Last year several of us girls got together for a fun night out to watch New Moon. Yes there were many teens there, but we weren't the oldest in line by FAR. We all had so much fun, we vowed to do it again for the next one.

For the New Moon release we had found Sweethearts with Team Jacob and Team Edward on them. We all picked sides and it was just fun! So for this movie release I struggled to find little party favors out on the market that were "Eclipse" related. Couldn't find anything I liked in my area, so I had to get creative.

Anyway, enough of my rambling....

Below are a few little treats I put together for our group of gals.

Eclipse gum: "Fire and Ice"

Pick your team... :)

And little treat bags stuffed with twizzlers

and theme-labeled.

The awesome labels are actually drink labels I downloaded from here.

(note: I cut the twizzlers in half for these bags)

Don't forget that Burger King has also teamed up with Summit

and has all sorts of Eclipse merchandise.

We will be joining in on the Movie fun on release day,

stopping in at BK for eats before the movie,

and rooting for Team Jacob!!!

A&J

T Shirt Halter Dress

2010-06-23T13:11:00.002-05:00

What a fun little dress this was to make. NOT. I quickly found out that I am not very skilled at sewing. However, once I figured out I had to slow down and take my time, things went a lot better. Sewing with thin T shirt material that wants to curl was enough to drive me mad. In fact, at the beginning of this project I was saying things like, I will never make another of these, EVER. But, by the end I was already thinking through the other cute little shirts we have that I could use to make more.

My little super model claimed this as a very comfy dress. You can find the tutorial here.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilblueboo

A&J

Fancy Camera Strap

2010-05-12T10:31:00.003-05:00

My camera went long enough without

a touch of color.

Had to have a super cool camera strap.

So I used my mad elementary sewing skills

and made a few fancy strap covers.

I'm lovin' it.

And it's so much more comfy.

And cute!

and another.

Because I had to try out a few different colors.

How did I make it?

Found a great tutorial here.

Followed the general idea and was

surprised at how easy it really was.

(btw - I used the medium weight fusible

interfacing for a little extra cushion.)

A&J

Army Birthday Party

2010-04-12T13:01:00.005-05:00

I LOVED this party!

We had an Army party for my son's 5th birthday this weekend.

It turned out great and all the kiddos had a blast (even the girls)!

First off, I made this 5x7 invite in Photoshop with a mini digital scrapbooking kit I found online here.

A shot of the basic training course.

We built a wall out of two sheets of plywood and some 2x4's (I got rid of some old paint from the garage by painting the wall camo). The balances beams were just 4x4's on a few 2x4's on each end. The tires we borrowed from a local tire store. They let us use some old tires and we just took them back the next day. For the ropes, we got a pack of these wooden stakes. My husband drilled a hole in each one and we strung some rope through all of them.

Everyone got personalized (with a sharpe) dog tags to wear and some black face paint when they arrived.

I ordered the dog tags, plastic camo hats and the camo party favors from Oriental Trading.

Prize box....

Birthday rations included: Camo cupcakes, beef sticks, whoppers, and homemade survival mix (chex, marshmallows, pretzels, peanuts, and black & green m&m's)

Used an old washtub for drinks...

These 7x10 drawstring bags were perfect for party favors! I order them from Oriental Trading as well and stuck a water gun and some other goodies in there.

The cupcakes were camo colored.

I used chocolate and yellow cake mix. Mixed per directions, and in half of the yellow mix I added green and black food coloring to make the army green color. I added spoonfulls of each color into camo cupcake liners. Simple and cheap!

First activity was a "Search and Rescue Mission"

The kids had to find a few hundred of the little plastic army men I had hid before the party.

They were all so great at rescuing their men they received a little fun pack of Lifesavers candy!

Next up, basic training course....

Then they all launched their Parachute men...

Built little wooden airplanes to fly...

And everyone got to shoot the paintball gun at the target.

Look at these cool paintballs my husband found for them to use!

We even had some creative gift wrapping....

And just after the party, these planes flew over...

Coincidental, of course but totally cool!!

Add 2 more = 5!

This was such a fun party to put together. My husband enjoys building little projects, so this was perfect for him to jump in and help. All in all it wasn't that expensive as we had lots of the scrap wood and items already. And camo is easy to find anywhere!

We'd love to hear about your birthday party ideas!

A&J

April Fools Day Pranks

2010-04-01T21:39:00.001-05:00

April Fools Day has to be one of my most favorite days. I love playing little tricks for my kids because they talk about it all year. Even my oldest has been asking me, "when is that day where we play tricks on everyone." She's a prankster in the making I can already tell...

Fake Cupcakes

Had to try this myself. These were a huge hit. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Of course I had to add sprinkles because my girls have never had a cupcake without them. Totally fooled the girls and got some great video of some funny faces!!!

Disclaimer for the next prank....I'm really not mean, I promise.

Because my girls always announce when they've got to go, I was able to capture this one on video as well. Priceless. Might have to send this one in to funniest home videos.

A&J

Easter treats with peeps!

2010-03-30T19:51:00.000-05:00

I made these super cute nests for my preschooler's little Easter party.

It was something he enjoyed helping with as well!

How to make your own:

Grab some Peeps, robin eggs, edible grass (Easter isle at Walmart, or you could color some coconut) and

the original Rice Krispies treat recipe.

Make the rice krispies according to the original recipe and press into muffin pans.

Hollow out the middle a bit and add edible grass, eggs and Peeps!

Easy as that!

A&J

Burlap wreath

2010-03-21T20:55:00.003-05:00

So I saw this darling wreath at Where The Heart Is.

Check it out, isn't awesome?!

She also has a great tutorial which you can find here.

I gave it a go, and it was super, super easy to make!

Perfect touch for my dining room hutch!

A&J

Burlap Bunnies!

2010-03-18T20:45:00.001-05:00

HELLO!!

Take a look at these little burlap bunnies over at The Little Green Bean.

Adorable right?

So I happened to have all the stuff to make make these cute bunnies.

Talk about easy!

Here's our version.....

So cute!!

A&J

Book Page Wreath and Eggs

2010-03-18T20:16:00.004-05:00

So I saw this awesome wreath on tatertots and jello.

Gotta have one!

And she actually has an awesome tutorial on exactly how to do it.

Yea!

So I grabbed a book from the dollar store, a circle for the wreath, and some old plastic Easter eggs we had and started modge-podging (yes I used that word that I made up again).

Got the first one finished and was thinking how cool this is going to look.

But it was taking a little longer than I expected.

I figured it would go faster as I go along.

By the 3rd egg I had been sitting there for about 45 minutes.

And I'm thinking, how in the world did this lady seriously do all 50 or so she needed for the wreath. It must have taken her a week. Either that or I'm in serious need of some modge podging skills.

Needless to say, I ended up with 6 eggs completed in total.

They are awesome and I love them, but I still didn't get the wreath I wanted. :(
So, I put them in a jar...
Still cute, but certainly not a wreath.

Then I saw this idea here.

Love it!!

Ok, I can surely roll up paper and glue it on right?

Surely I can!

And I'm off to work on my wreath.....

A&J

Pink and Black Girlie Girls Room

2010-03-08T09:57:00.003-06:00

Every wonder what in the world you to do when you lower your crib mattress to the lowest level and you find that your crib skirt that you paid a fortune for is now way too long. Here's a very cute solution. Tulle. Here, I used two spools of tulle that I bought at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each. Added some black and white polka dot ribbon, also found 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby and simple tied it to the metal bars of the crib. Since I'm a super over protective mother, I have also never used the bumper that I also paid a fortune for, so I added cute accent pillows in the back of the crib that you can remove at night for safety. So instead of paying another however much for new bedding, I simply converted to this oh so cheap version for less than $100. I actually love this more than the original bedding I paid much, much more than $100 for.

Please ignore the non matching rocking chair. It's a family heirloom that I can't bring myself to ask if I can refinish.

Can't resist showing an up close pic of this. This was also done with all 1/2 Hobby Lobby items. Metal accent, coordinating ribbon, and added matching tulle that I used for the skirt of the crib.

A&J

Hoe-Down Birthday Bash

2010-02-15T18:28:00.005-06:00

Head on over for an Old Fashion Hoe-Down

My daughter loves horses, so we decided on a hoe-down theme for her 6th birthday. This was so fun to put together. Not only can you find western themed party supplies everywhere, but everyday accessories such as burlap, denim, sunflowers, daisies, cowboy boots, cowoy hats and even toy horses can also be found.

You just have to google parties and you will find these glass jars everywhere filled with candy. I added my own twist by using beef jerky sticks, and trail mix.

The cake.

The buffet. We served BBQ sandwhiches, chips, potato salad, a veggies tray, and served Orange Crush & Root Beer for drinks.

For party favors, I found a horse puzzle for $1 at the Dollar Tree, then added some m&s and other cute items and tied them in a bundle with bandanas and twine. Then I added a cute tag that I created in photoshop that says "Thanks Partner for makin' it to my party. Sure hope you had a Rootin Tootin good time!

For activities we hired a pony service that brought out two ponies for the kids to ride. For games we did a three legged race that was huge hit. A grape spitten contest. Pin the tail on the Horse. And of course we had a horse pinata. We did set out bales of Hay in the back yard as well for additional outdoor seating. It was also the perfect prop for a group picture.

This was such a fun party that both kids and adults thoroughly enjoyed it.

A&J

Digital Scrapbooking

2010-01-14T16:03:00.000-06:00

We have been busy little girls working feverishly on our family's 2009 photo books. Each year we both create a scrapbook of the year's highlights. This year we taught ourselves Photoshop and vowed to do all of our scrapbooking digitally. Wow, how addictive can one program really be. It's insane!

Just like the old fashion way of scrapbooking, it's so hard to come up with ideas for pages.

My partner in crime is so darn creative. I love all her stuff and even bring my attempted pages to her to fix. Here is my favorite one and a few others to get your own creative juices flowing.

To get started on your own addiction here are a few sites that we have gotten all our kits from: Several on Shabby Princess are actually free too!
Shabby Princess
Designer Digitals

Shabby Princess also has a very handy photo shop tutorial that is extremely helpful that will show you step by simple step how to create your pages.

For printing, we have had several books printed with Shutterfly and have been very pleased with how they turn out. It's so easy to just drop your pages into a book and order.

A&J

Canvas Art

2009-12-28T13:28:00.007-06:00

I was cleaning up my craft area last week and ran across some little 6x6 inch blank canvases. They've been there for a few years now, just waiting for the right spark of creativity to hit my brain. I have seen how other crafters doll them up with paint and paper and I always think how easy that would be to do. So I started painting, and modge-podging (yes, that's a word I just made up) and came up with these.

Not too shabby for my first attempt.
Good thing you can't see up real close,
cause there are definitely flaws.
Not too hard to do though.
And kinda fun.

I may just have to try a few more...

A&J

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

2009-12-21T15:57:00.006-06:00

A totally fun idea for the kiddos to add to the excitement of Christmas is to create your own scavenger hunt. This year, we are going to have one on Christmas Eve. I've created several cute clues like this one.

Of course I had to make it super easy because my participants are itty bitty.

I'm going to have them running all over the house for clues. The last one will lead them to one present that they can open that night. It's going to be matching Christmas pjs and a couple of Christmas books.

Kids are so much fun. I can't wait!

A&J

Zoo Membership for Gift

2009-12-21T15:48:00.010-06:00

Need another gift idea. Give the gift of a membership to your local zoo. This is great for families and especially new parents that haven't figured out yet how many times they will be going to the zoo.

Just make a cute tag.

And tie it to a cute little guy like this one.

Something for the whole family to enjoy.

A&J

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-21T13:57:00.004-06:00

As always, we are in search of "THE BEST" Christmas card ideas. There are so many creative people out there, the competition is crazy. Even though we've created our own pressure, it's still something we plan months in advance. I love funny ideas. The funnier the better. Ones that will make you smile or even laugh out loud. Here's a cute and funny idea that we used this year. Hope it makes you smile.

A&J

Snow Day Bucket

2009-12-20T12:36:00.008-06:00

Trying to find the perfect gift for those friends who have EVERYTHING. I made this snow day bucket for a couple of our friends this year.

I found this snowman kit at Gordmans. Added some Starbucks mugs, some hot chocolate, the perfect movie "It's a Wonderful Life," and some movie candy. I did hide some butterscotch rum in the bottom for the parents to spike their hot chocolate. Depends on your recipients of course. The bucket I chose looked so cute with the theme, but it was a tad small. I would have liked to add some gourmet popcorn, but it just wouldn't fit. This was a huge hit anyway.

Now Bring on the Snow!!!

A&J

Christmas Reindeer Chow

2009-12-19T16:14:00.007-06:00

One of my favorite treats with some Christmas color.

Reindeer Chow (aka Puppy Chow when it's not Christmas time) is one of my favorite snacks and is so good you won't be able to stop eating it. I have made the traditional recipe and just added red and green M&M's. This is an easy and great idea to make up and hand out to friends and/or neighbors.

Here's the recipe:

1 stick of butter
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
8 cups Crispix cereal
2 cups powdered sugar
Christmas M&M's

Melt butter, chocolate chips and peanut butter in the microwave. When melted, pour over Crispix; mix well. Put powdered sugar in large brown paper bag and add the Crispix. Shake until well coated. Add more powdered sugar if needed and shake some more. Add M&M's and you're done!

A&J

Magic Reindeer Food

2009-12-19T15:57:00.011-06:00

This is such an easy thing to make and will be a hit with your little ones. It's also very inexpensive to make which makes it a good idea to give to neighbors and friends.

You can find recipes for this just about anywhere, but it's really just Oats and Sprinkles.
Use as much or as little depending on how many you're making it for.

Pile some oats in a bowl, then sprinkle lots of holiday sprinkles on top. I also used the white sparkly sprinkles so that it will "sparkle" in the moonlight, making it easier for the reindeer to see. (you could substitute with some sugar).
Mix it all together and place in little bags. Easy as that!
I got the awesome ready to print labels here. You can download and print.

They have these directions on the back:
"Sprinkle on the lawn at night
the moon will make it sparkle bright
as Santa's reindeer fly and roam
this will guide them to your home"

A&J

Animal Print Pumpkins

2009-11-17T08:22:00.005-06:00

I'm in love with all the fabric pumpkins that all my favorite bloggers are posting. I've been wanting to make my own to have for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. I even printed the tutorials and shopped for fabric. This is until I found these adorable little beauties at Affair of the Heart in OKC. They are so adorable, I couldn't possibly have come up with anything cuter.

Love, love, LOVE them!!

A&J

Spooky Spider Treats

2009-10-27T08:09:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Halloween...

I found this super cute idea from here.

These little spider pops are great for small inexpensive

party favors for your little one's Halloween party!

I simply grabbed some black pipe cleaners (cut in half),
and wrapped around the stem of a tootsie pop and
formed spider legs..
{I skipped on adding little googly eyes to each
spider, but if you have the time go ahead
and glue some on!}

A&J

Craft Room

2009-10-26T18:22:00.022-05:00

I love looking at how people have their craft rooms organized and how pretty everything is. Let's be honest, not everyone has an extra room in their house just for crafts.

When we moved into our new house several years ago, I had one major request... I wanted a scrapbook/craft area. I do have to double it as a guest room when we have guests though so I don't have a full craft room, but I love it anyway.
Notice we had this really weird shaped window area to work with. If we had put a piece of furniture on that wall it would have totally blocked the window off. So my husband built me a custom work area. I drew out a big long skinny "U" shape plan and he put it all together. I slapped a coat of white paint on it all, and that was that!

Nope it's not as fancy as some of these very custom rooms, but it is perfect for me and what I use it for. {And a heck of a lot more inexpensive I'm sure!}

See this really weird shape we had to work with?

I have my sewing machine setup on one end which is super handy to not have to pack up when it's not being used.

The desk was made out of plywood and trimed out with 2x4's all the way around. The legs are also from the hardware store, just premade legs. All of the shelving is premade as well. We bought the 12" closet shelving, premade wooden brackets and finished out underneath

with more 2x4's for support. Notice, my work area is pretty narrow. I think it's only about 28" deep, so I've tried to use as much wall storage as possible.

These ribbon jars are not only functional but pretty as well. I needed an easy way to store all my ribbon where I could see what I have. I just bought a case of mason jars from the grocery store, and spray painted the lid silver. {Note: I left the middle circle out of the lid and just screwed the rim on the jar. So it looks like there are lids, but there really aren't. Makes it alot easier just to grab what you need.}

More pictures of the storage. Black photo storage boxes, baskets, and magazine holders for all my idea books.

This utensil holder was something that my husband made as well and I had gotten the idea from a magazine. It was just 2 2x4's made into a "T". He cut out 4 circles and I bought some inexpensive glasses to drop in. Very handy to have everything right there in front of you while your working, but off the table and out of the way.

More storage solutions... I found these silver salt shakers at the Dollar Store one day. Took the lids off and used them for storage.

Look everywhere for things you can use!

This is one of my bulletin boards in the room. I have several sets of stamps. And unless you have them out everyday it's hard to remember what you even have. Most of these were bought from Stampin' Up so I made a copy of the sets I have out of their catalog and posted them on my bulletin board and now I know exactly what all I have stored away!

This little cabinet was a garage sale find by my Mom. It was originally just an old wooden box used for spices. She grabbed it for a dime and gave it to me and said you can find something to do with this. And, yes I did.

I turned it on it's side, added a small little shelf inside, and a black drawer knob on the outside. Painted it all white and hung it on the wall. It's perfect for all of my "little" storage, like ink pads misc stamps, paint, etc. {Like I said, look everywhere for things you can use for creative storage.}

This is back in the corner of the desk. I have enough room to keep my cutting mat out which was another important thing for me.

And there you have it. A peek inside my Craft Area. {I'll be honest and say that it doesn't always look as tidy as this. And really, if it did then no one would ever believe that I actually use it. :) }

So what do your craft areas look like? Are there things that you love that you just can't live without?

A&J

Fall decorations...

2009-10-20T13:51:00.005-05:00

I love decorating for fall. All of the colors are so warm

and inviting. It just makes me want to light a fire and

cuddle up in my pj pants.

Maybe read a book and take a nap.

Then I wake up from my daydream to break up
a fight between the kids and holler at the
dog to quit barking at the wind again...

One of these days though.

Anyway....

Most of theses decorations are from my favorite

craft store Hobby Lobby.

The top left is a shot of my fireplace mantel. It has alot going on with the rock already so I just put a simple fall berry garland across and a few little pumpkins. The black crow was a clearance find, but had totally ugly navy ribbon on it so I switched it to black and orange. Seriously, since when did black and navy become a pair again??

The scarecrow was put up in our TV console by my 4 yr old. Looked just as good as anything I could do with it so it stayed.

The white pumpkin is artificial and I just added "Boo" with a sharpe marker. {I just might have kinda copied by partner-n-crime "A" on this one. :-) } I plan to just turn it around after Halloween and just have a white pumpkin for fall.

The candy jar I filled with Halloween m&m's and printed one of these neat bottle labels and used double sticky tape to stick it on. {My favorite new thing this year.}

And that's all folks.

Happy Fall Ya'll!!

A&J

Halloween Costume - Tutu Witch

2009-10-13T21:23:00.006-05:00

Need a super cute & unique witch costume for Halloween?
This one is simple to make and inexpensive!

{I wish I had a cute little model to show off how darling
this actually looks on, but my little boy just wasn't up to the task -
I even bribed him with candy and that didn't work.
Poor thing, guess I can't blame him....}

You'll need some ribbon, elastic, and at least two rolls of tulle (6 inches wide).

Elastic was cut about 16 inches long, and ribbon on each side was cut about 26 inches long. (these can be longer or shorter depending on how big you are making this.)

I stitched the ribbon on to each side of the elastic.

I sewed a third piece of ribbon that was cut about 50 inches to the middle in a "V". This will be the halter straps.

Then just cut strips of tulle for the tutu. They will need to be double the length you want it to be because you will fold them in half and tie onto the elastic. I tied two pieces together at a time.

Add a strip of green ribbon around the waist and safety pin a flower in the middle of the neckline.
(All of the ribbon just ties in a bow in the back)

All you need to finish the costume is a witch hat, and some striped leggings or tights!

A&J

Superhero Cape

2009-10-13T21:01:00.005-05:00

A superhero cape for those rowdy little boys (or girls)!

This one was for Mr. Davis, so it has a "D" on it.

Instructions: (Keep in mind that this can be made any size at all. I made this one 22 inches wide by 26 inches long.)

Take 1 yard of fabric and cut two pieces similar to the shape above. Applique your letter or other "super" shape on one piece. Put right sides together and sew along the edges leaving a small opening to turn it right side out. Then iron all of your seams flat and make a final stitch all along the outside edges of the cape. To finish it off, sew velcro tabs to the neck of the cape.... and it's done!

A&J

I LOVE Halloween....

2009-10-13T09:25:00.008-05:00

I LOVE Halloween....

Halloween has to be my favorite holiday. I love decorating the house and getting treat bags ready. Halloween parties and designing costumes.

Since my independent little ones had their own say in costumes this year, of which were store bought, I'm spending my energy on decorating.

I love all you creative people out there and am in awe at all your delicious little blogs full of all the cutest ideas. See my version of the white boo pumpkins. It's everywhere, so of course I had to try it out myself. My new fav item of the year. Hobby Lobby has these feathered topiary trees that are also a new fav of mine. And no Halloween is complete without a giant spider and her web to greet you in the entryway. We call her Charlotte because we are creative like that.

The front porch is my next project.

Happy Halloween All!!!

A&J

Adorable Hat

2009-10-12T08:48:00.006-05:00

Check out this most adorable hat I found on Etsy this weekend. Love it!!! Can you say fall photo op? Kathyneilsen is the genius maker. Of course I ordered 2. The girls will look so cute. Especially with their matching pea coats I bought from Target. CUTE!!!

A&J

Halloween Candy Necklace

2009-10-08T20:04:00.006-05:00

Here is a different take on candy necklace. I made this for my son's preschool class for little party favors for their Halloween Party. They turned out so cute and very easy to do!

I grabbed a roll of clear cellophane from the craft store and cut about 6 inch wide strips. Place you choice of candy, treats or other goodies in the cellophane. Then just wrap it up and tie each section off with some ribbon.

I used:

little bags of pretzels

nerds

fruit snacks

a Halloween stamp ($1 spot at Target)

eyeball gumballs

& of course some candy corn packets.

You can use anything!

(Note: you may need to use two strips of cellophane for each necklace to make it long enough. Just overlap them in between one of the sections)

A&J

My Favorite Blog...

2009-10-04T13:32:00.001-05:00

Joy's Hope

I read all of her posts.

Some of them make me smile.

Some of them make me cry.
Some of them inspire me to get a little more crafty.
Some of them inspire me to try something new.
Her witty humor makes me laugh.
So sometimes I even re-read them.
Then I laugh again.
And sometimes I even call my friend (A) that

works down the hall and tell her she

needs to read it as well.
Sometimes we get to laughing so hard that

I almost fall out of my chair.

(one example and another one)

It’s the little things in life.
Julie, you rock!
And if you happen upon here,
we heart you!
Keep the posts a comin’!

J

Denim Sunflower Tutu Dress

2009-09-25T08:32:00.009-05:00

Isn't this the sweetest thing you've ever seen? I know...I know, I'm so biased. But I just can't help it. This little dress is so fun to make.

I took an Old Navy denim overall dress and cut the skirt off just under the belt loops. Then I made a yellow and white tutu. Tutu tutorials can be found all over the web. Just google and find one that's easy for you to follow. I did add ribbon into my tutu to make it even cuter. Then I simply stitched the tutu to the inside of the top. I added ribbon through the belt loops and tied in a bow. I found these cute sunflower pins at Claires. Bought two to add one to the front pocket and one to put in her hair.

Here's the front.

Here's the back

A&J

Bandana Dresses Part 2

2009-09-25T08:16:00.006-05:00

Another spin on these adorable bandanna dresses. These straps are a little different. For example, these straps are sewn to the front and tied in the back.

Front

I love this version because you can tie a big fancy bow in the back.
Back

I added a little bit of fancy embellishment to the front. I would like to give you the impression that I have such neat ideas and that I thought to just add this to make it look that much cuter, but what really happened was I hate reading directions and so I didn't and messed up my stitching when I sewed the ribbon to the front. I didn't make a fancy Z pattern as suggested in the directions. Nope, I just sewed crazy lines back and forth and back and forth and it looked hideous. So, I ran to my favorite store Hobby Lobby and purchased this life saving rose ribbon. Sewed it right on and voila, covered up my very ugly zig zag pattern that I'm infamous for. Turns out, I love this added feature and purchased more to added to all my other ones I plan to make in the future.
I couldn't resist making this red one with zebra ribbon. Isn't animal print so fabulous.

A&J

Ultimate Movie Night Gift Basket

2009-09-24T09:57:00.021-05:00

Need a quick and easy universal gift idea that's perfect for any age? Try an Ultimate Movie Night Basket. You can modify this gift to fit any age from Disney movies for the itty bitty ones, or old time movie classics for the great big oldie ones.

Start with a basket of your choice. This little masterpiece is for an avid OSU fan so I selected an orange basket.
Add some super comfy PJ's.
Select the perfect movies. This little guy (I still think he's little, but he's actually 10) has every current movie imaginable. So I selected some age appropriate classics that every kid needs to see.
Some tasty movie candy.
Of course movie popcorn. I didn't have much time, but I usually find bags of caramel popcorn, but microwave works great too when you are in a hurry.

Add some tissue paper, cute ribbon, and a fancy card and you are done with your very own Ultimate Movie Night present.

What's so great about this is you can get creative as you want. I've done a scaled down version for teacher gifts as well. Sometimes if you don't know PJ sizes, you could add a soft blanket, or if you can't decide on what movies, put in movie theater tickets. The possibilities are endless.

Let us know if you have other cute possibilities. We love hearing new ideas we can use.

Have fun!!

A&J

Halloween Costumes

2009-09-23T10:49:00.016-05:00

For all you fellow crafty parents out there, I know how hard it is to find orignal costumes that are not your typical run of the mill costumes that you see every other kid that comes to your door wearing. Then if you have multiple kids, how fun is it to make their costumes match or make sense together. With that said, it's easiest when they are young and you can talk them into anything. The older they get, the more opinionated they get and then actually want to have a say in what they are going to be. Argh. Just drives the type A moms CRAZY.

This was last years.....

Elephant & Peanut
(I actually sewed pink bows on to make sure everyone knew they
were a girl elephant and a girl peanut, but that was last minute and I didn't get that pic.)

This is what I really wanted to do this year.

Little Bo Peep, and her little lost sheep.

(these are not my kids BTW. But they are cute)

But, after many hours of Halloween catalogs and online shopping, my once easily convincible 5 year old, now wants to be this.

Her daddy is on her side. He makes a good point in the world of ICarly, and Hannah Montanna, this will be the last year she will still want to be our little princess. So, yes, I've given up and given in.

Oh, and this is the other one.

So yes, my sweet little ones will now be yet another two in the sea of millions of other little princess that bless our streets every Halloween.

I love Halloween.

A&J

Ice Skating Party

2009-09-23T10:20:00.017-05:00

The Perfect Ice Skating Party any kid would love.

First the perfect invite. I found this cute little gem at Traylorpapers.com.

Next, design the perfect cake. I always have to do two tiers because it's just that much more fabulous. I found the little ice skating bear online and it's actually a Christmas ornament. Then I had the baker place it to where it looked like she was ice skating the words right on the ice. Ignore the fact that the bear actually had to skate backwards to write this, but hey, it's very talented bear. Details. No one but me even noticed.
The perfect outfit. She did have on a crown, but that quickly fell off due to her fast agile skating abilities. Ok ok, it actually fell off due to a near fatal crash, but hey I have the power to edit here.
Next, the perfect party favor. I like finding unique things that parents don't actually toss in the trash as soon as their little ones fall asleep on the way home or just aren't looking. Or quickly eat all candy that's left while their innocent one sleeps. All the while fibbing a little to them when they awake saying you must have eaten it all before you fell asleep, you just don't remember.
So I found these cute books on sale at Barnes and Noble. For about $4.00 each. They came with the little ice skate necklace that I still see her friends wearing. I simply added a tulle bow and tied a sucker and ribbon to make them pretty and voila. A very simple party favor that they are sure to enjoy for awhile.
We did have a few boys at the party so I found these cute books for them. I did the same thing by adding tulle around them with suckers attached.

Ps. you have to tie candy on to favors like these because some kids aren't as excited as the parents are to get books as their favors. So trick them by adding just a little sugar. Parents are happy that it's not a ton more sugar that they wind up having to eat so their already sugar overloaded (from the birthday cake) sweeties don't eat that much more on the way home.

A&J

Fancy Nancy Cake

2009-08-24T14:25:00.018-05:00

How to make your own Fancy Nancy Cake.

First, I had a bakery make a simple two layer cake. I'm not a great baker so this saved me quite a bit of work. Plus, they don't charge you much at all so this is actually one of the cheaper cakes I've ever done. I really wanted three layers, but that's a lot of cake, so I stuck to two.

Next, I added ribbon. I simply placed the ribbon around the cake and taped it together in the back. I did two layers of ribbon to give extra pizazz. Of course adding a big fake diamond embellishment for extra bling.
I then added a feather boa around the bottom, and cut a little off to stick on the top. Added a fake crown to the top layer, then added the mesh butterflies. The 2 (below) is just made of stock paper. And.....Then the for the finale...I added the plume feathers on top and voila.

The fanciest cake on the block. A few tips. Make sure the cake is very cold. Since this cake turned out to be bigger than what my refrigerator could hold, I practiced the night before. Took a picture, then put it back together right before the party. When the cake is warm, the butterflies were wanting to droop and fall out.

A&J

French Poodle Baby Shower

2009-07-28T19:55:00.002-05:00

We hosted a baby shower this past weekend for a friend of ours. The theme we ran with was French Poodle as inspired from her nursery decorations.

Wow there is a ton of pink/black/white out there these days! Made it so much easier on us.

Get ready to be overloaded with pink and black! These are some of the table centerpiece decorations. Fresh flowers in some glasses, piece of a black feather boa on a square silver tray. Very classy looking. And of course it had to have some of my favorites, daisies.

(The glasses and silver trays were some fabulous Dollar Tree finds.)

Pictures from the table. Just a black table cloth, paper flags strung on some black string on the front of the table, and pink tulle placed around the table.

The metal Eiffel Tower was just found at Hobby Lobby along with the "M" frame.
The cake was just a very simple pink cake and we tied the black/white toile ribbon then the black/white gingham check on top of that. Topped with a bow and some black feathers.
This diaper cake turned out great and is my favorite one we've done so far. We used a 40 count pack of pampers diapers and made 3 tiers. Coordinating toile ribbon, gingham ribbon and pink tulle was tied around it. We used parts of that same black feather boa that was used on the table centerpieces and put it in between the layers. This really dolled it up. And of course a little pink french poodle stuffed toy on top.

Pink tutu which was turned upside down and used as tissue paper in the gift sack. This was very easily made by just tying strips of pink tulle on some ribbon and tying the excess ribbon in a bow.

This large pink bucket was personalized as well and had all sorts of neat little items in it. These are just a few items we had put together inside the bucket. Looked cute all put together and served as a table decoration as well!

This pink/white toile frame was found at Hobby Lobby. We dolled it up with some black feathers, a black bow, and a big rhinestone in the middle.

How totally girly and sassy is that?
Love it!

These were just a few other items that were made. The onesie and cloth diapers (used for burp cloths) were my first attempt at the applique that you see everywhere these days. And of course the piggy bank that was shared in an earlier post.

A&J

Paint a Piggy Bank

2009-07-21T08:03:00.007-05:00

Found this adorable little ceramic piggy bank at Michael's today for $3.99.

Except it wasn't this adorable.....

yet.

It actually started out looking like this.So I got my bubble gum pink acrylic paint out and started making some polka dots all over it. And I added the name with a black sharpie marker.

Then it still needed something....

It's a girly pig that needed a girly matching bow.

And that's it. Very easy and inexpensive way to personalize a gift.

A&J

Pretty in Pink Shower

2009-07-20T10:09:00.003-05:00

We are working on a totally girly baby shower for a friend and I ran across this adorable "Pretty In Pink" baby shower done by Amy Belle Isle from Stem Parties.

I love all of the pink details and everything is perfectly put together! You can check out her blog for tons of other adorable parties planning ideas.

And of course you can't have a Pretty In Pink party without a Ducky!

Doesn't all this pink just make you smile?

A&J

Happy 4th

2009-07-04T10:34:00.000-05:00

Bandana Dress

2009-07-02T19:13:00.010-05:00

Check out this totally cute bandana dress.

And believe it or not, it's super easy to make.

I'll give you a quick run down of how

to make one.

First, your going to take two bandanas

and about 2 1/2 - 3 yards of ribbon.

With the right side facing down, fold down and sew.

How wide this seam is, is going to be determined

by how wide your ribbon is.

Just eyeball it, it doesn't need to be exact.

This will be the top of the dress.

After you do that on both bandanas,

You will put the right sides together,

measure about 6 inches from the top

and sew the rest of the way down.

(This is for the arm holes)

Turn the dress inside out and

run the ribbon through the top
in the front and back, scrunch the fabric

together and tie the bows on each side.

Too cute? Now go make one!

A&J

All American Tutu

2009-07-01T13:59:00.009-05:00

Here’s an All American tutu skirt that’s very cute

posted by Joy’s Hope.
She’s even got step by step instructions on how to do it,

so there’s no excuses for you now.

I can totally see this in any color or theme….
Maybe some yellow and white tulle.
Sunflower ribbon.

Or some pink and black.

maybe a few bows.
The wheels are spinning now…

Have a look, leave a comment, and then hop on over to Julie’s site

to see what else she’s got going on.

Also check out the adorable hair clips she makes

and sells in her shop on Etsy....

Pretty. Messy. Flowers

A&J

Candy Necklace

2009-06-25T13:49:00.005-05:00

I found this really cute idea for a small gift, party favors, teacher's gift etc...

Basically you just take clear cellophane, place small pieces of fun size candy and tie up the sections with ribbon. How fun, quick and easy!

A&J

Wall Collages

2009-06-16T11:01:00.001-05:00

I had a large wall that needed some sprucing up. So I gathered a collection of frames, all sizes and and styles. Then just printed out a bunch of snapshots. You can do all black and white or mix some color photos in and you can mix pictures, crosses, or any other wall decor for your collage. The large frame in the middle I found at Kirklands and it holds 18 5x7 pics, so it's pretty large. Most of the smaller ones are Hobby Lobby finds.

Here's the tricky part for me. I am an accountant by heart so random placement of pictures is a bit of a challenge for me. I laid them all out on the floor and re-arranged until I got them just right. Then hung them up on the wall.

Here are a few examples we have done. Remember, you want it to be random. Have fun!

Here's another version of the same concept except in an entry way. Yes, we shop at the same places and our homes look VERY similar. Our husbands and kids get confused on whose house they are in sometimes. :)

Yet another wall collage idea. I have a very small powder bathroom and wanted to do something to make it stand out. I started with several crosses and it just didn't work for me. I kept adding more and more thinking that bigger was better. Then it finally dawned on me to go for a ceiling to floor collage. Now it looks like 3-D wallpaper and is now over the top dramatic, especially with the red paint background.

A&J

Glazing your trim

2009-06-15T12:35:00.004-05:00

Many of the newer houses these days have some of their woodwork glazed. Below are some pics of some wainscoting in the dining room. Originally it started out just white (well, off-white or color of the rest of the trim). I simply added the glaze into the detail of the trim and molding for a totally different look.

You can buy the glaze in a few different colors at a local paint store (they don't carry them at Lowe's or Home Depot) and it's much like a stain when you look at it. I used a chocolate glaze here. You'll need to paint it on pretty thick into the creases. Take a thin cloth towel or rag and using your finger wipe out as little or as much of the glaze to get the look you are going for. It may take a few times to get the technique down. If you are doing a large area, you will need several disposable rags to work with. The trick is to make sure that each time you wipe off your excess glaze you have a clean spot on the rag to work with. And work in small areas at a time.

You can add glaze to just about anything to highlight detail or just give a bit of a rustic look. I've added them to picture frames, wood furniture, wood bead board, shelving etc.

A&J

Christmas Card 2006

2009-06-12T10:01:00.006-05:00

This card was one of the biggest hits. I met a caricature person at Sea World in San Antonio who I worked with on this card. I sent him a family picture of us and gave him the basic details of what I wanted. Once he was finished, he simply emailed it to me and I had them printed and put on card stock cards.

Ps. This is a great way to enhance a few areas. tee hee. I enhanced my tatas and put a dorky Christmas sweater on my husband. :) It only makes those that know you get a good laugh.

A&J

Fireplace Before/After

2009-06-12T09:00:00.001-05:00

For all you weekend warriors out there, here's a way to completely change the look of your fireplace. The original fireplace was fine, but a little on the boring side. We (we, as in my husband and I) decided to order some of the rock veneer from the local hardware store and attempt our own renovation. I'll tell ya it was very messy and hard work, but the end result was exactly what we envisioned. The mantel was made by my husband as well and is a large block of wood that we distressed and stained. I just love how it turned out!.

A&J

Monkey Party

2009-06-12T08:31:00.015-05:00

My daughter really likes monkeys, but it was a challenge to make a girly monkey theme. So I found these monkey invites at a local invitation store, but the background was all wrong, they were red. So I cut out the trees and stuck them on my own background cardstock creation. The monkey and string came with the original invite and I attached the appropriate coordinating bow to the tail.

The monkey cake....

The party favors were stuffed monkeys with pink bows tied around the neck. I also dressed the party girl in a pink top with matching animal print leggings.

A great place to have the perfect monkey party is your local bounce place so they can jump around and be the monkeys we already know they are.

A&J

Christmas Card 2008

2009-06-11T10:12:00.004-05:00

Christmas cards are yet another passion of ours and we enjoy collaborating on what to do every year. Here's a cute example of one using digital scrapbooking to create a custom card. We found several free sites that you can download to create your own cards. See sites we like for more details. The pictures we took in black and white then in Photo shop colored the candy cane, wreath, and string of lights to highlight the word JOY.

A&J

Lady Bug Party

2009-06-11T09:39:00.002-05:00

For all you ladybug fans, here's a few cute ideas for a ladybug birthday party. If you have a Katie, this is a must for at least one of her parties...This happened to be my Katie Bug's 1st.

The invite I found at Scraplesspress.com.

I personalized her shirt with an iron on transfer. I simply bought printable iron on transfer that can be found at any hobby store or even at Walmart in the sewing/craft section and printed her name on the transfer.

A family friend makes these "to die for" angel food cakes and this is the only shape she makes, so I turned it into a ladybug by adding my own touches. The black dots, eyes and mouth are fondant that I made and put on. Very easy intro to fondant because you simple roll it out and cut out circles. The antennas are piping that I bent and curled for the antennas. And of course topped with a cute coordinating bow. The party girl should have her own antenna as well, made with the same piping on a plain headband.

No ladybug party is complete without actual live ladybugs. Depending on the season, you can buy ladybugs at your local nurseries. Early spring. However, since this party was in August I had to find them online and have them shipped in. Beware, they come in big quantities. 1,200 and more. I found these cute bug containers at Dollar Tree. Added this cute saying, and gave these out as the party favor for the kiddos to "help their own gardens grow."

A&J

Bunko Gift

2009-06-11T09:10:00.004-05:00

I needed a simple bunko gift to give away that was $20 or under. Everyone can use an extra serving pitcher to serve fun summer drinks in, but I can't just put a gift in a bag so here's a way to fancy up your gift. I found the pitcher at Walmart for $9.97. I also found this cute drink mix at Steinmart for $6.99. I then added coordinating tissue paper. And of course everything must be topped off with a cute coordinating bow. And voila!