Sunday, September 9, 2012

Vintage Personalized Dinosaur T-shirts

Stegosaurus for Oliver



My friend's son is obsessed with dinosaurs. He has every dinosaur thing you can imagine, and even some you can't. I had seen a boy wearing a cool vintage-looking t-shirt at the park a couple of weeks ago and decided to try to make it since I was pretty sure my friend's son didn't have that one. Of course my son had to have one too!

T-Rex for David
I used the Sure Cuts a Lot software along with my Cricut to cut out each of their favorite dinosaur and the silly labels for underneath. I then used some fabric paint I got at the craft store from the clearance section (37 cents!) and ta da! You need to heat set the paint, and the easiest way to do this is with your iron. I found a great article that explains it in great detail here. I let the paint sit for 24 hours and it worked great! My son loves his t-shirt and has now decided he needs one for each type of dinosaur! It's a good thing they're easy and cheap to make!









I also quickly made this Angry Birds inspired one for my daughter's friend who was turning 6. I love the vintage look of these t shirts and especially how soft they feel.




Proudly linking to these awesome parties!!!



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Friday, September 7, 2012

Journaling for the Heart

If you have been reading my blog for some time you probably have noticed the decrease in posts recently. To say that I have had a hard 18 months would be an understatement! My mom passed away last year in May and we lost my Dad unexpectedly this past June. My heart hurts and I've lost much of my craftiness. I find that when I have free time I spend most of it reading, perhaps as a way to escape my thoughts. With the kids back in school I am trying to take care of myself both inside and out. When I saw Ashley's The Lil Journal Project I knew it would be a great start for me!


I love keeping journals but have found it hard to write since losing my mom. I have a lot of thoughts that I need to get down on paper but that's not always easy. Perhaps that's why I'm enjoying Ashley's project so much. She has a daily prompt that makes it effortless to keep up with the writing. As you can see from my pages, I didn't buy a blank journal. Instead I am using a day planner that my parents gave me a long time ago. It has a leather cover and I love the way it feels and looks on my night table. Every time I pick it up I think of them and it warms my heart. I'm hoping to be able to write about them soon.


I hope you will join Ashley and me on this adventure! I promise you wont be sorry if you do! I'm on Day 5 and already having a great time looking back through past entries. This would also be a great thing to do with your kids.



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Sunday, July 1, 2012

Baby Shower Gifts


Babies here, babies there, babies everywhere! In the past month I have been to three baby showers! I love making gifts for babies and have had a blast coming up with presents for all these new people coming into our lives!








Each baby gets a giant granny square blanket made with a different yarn. For this one I used multicolored yarn with an edging done in a sparkly pink. I love that the edge looks like a delicate ruffled lace edge.



I'm relatively new to crochet, typically more of a knitter so I used a great pattern called How to Crochet a Granny Square. It goes step by step and is perfect for newbies.
 

I also made each sweet girl a "necklace onesie". These onesies are all over Pinterest and are a cute way to personalize the clothing item that babies will wear the most the first few months. I created the necklace using the eraser of a pencil dipped in fabric paint. I then attached a felt rosette using a snap so that the mommies can take it off to wash the onesie.

  

And lastly I put everything in a cute basket and wrap it up with some cellophane. I love the presentation and know one can never have too many baskets to organize tiny things in the nursery. Sometimes I get wicker baskets with liners and have the liners monogrammed, it depends on what I find and the decor in the nursery. 


I also like to bring the baby and mom a gift once they get home. Along with the usual flowers and food I like to bring something that is personalized. Last week I decided to try my hand at some subway art for the nursery and made this for my friend who had a beautiful daughter. I created the "tags" in photo shop and then arranged them on a canvas using mod podge. I love the way it looks except I think next time I'll cut out the words using my Cricut and I'll paint them on to the canvas. I don't like the choppy look of the words on the canvas. I still love the idea and I'm thinking about making one for each of my kids even though they are not babies anymore.





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Thursday, June 14, 2012

Review: My Artist’s Way Toolkit

The My Artist's Way Toolkit is the online version of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path To Higher Creativity. Like the book, the online tool kit presents a self-guided 12-week program which include daily and weekly exercises. These can be done online and offline and the expectation is that throughout these activities one will find the artist we all have hiding within us. Lastly it is important to mention that it is a subscription based program so there is a fee involved.

My favorite part of the program is the weekly 'Artist Dates'. I love that they are specific enough that I don't have to worry about the what when I'm writing. This week's prompt was "Go to a candy shop and buy yourself some of your favorite kind of childhood candy." It just so happens that I am in my native country and so this was a really fun one for me. I got tearful while writing about my favorite lollipops that my parents, who are now both gone, always used to buy for me. Writing about these lollipops was a wonderful exercise for my heart!

My least favorite part perhaps is the writing online, but after two weeks I have gotten used to it and actually enjoy it. I also like that I can do the exercises from everywhere since I always have my iPad or iPhone with me. If I only did these exercises in long hand then I probably would quickly fall behind since my journal stays at home. I find I do most of my creative writing while waiting in the carline at school- sad but true!

A note to keep in mind is that if you cancel your subscription they will keep your data for 60 days in case you change your mind. I love that!

This is a great toolkit for someone that needs help in self discovery, it's a great "wake-up" of sorts to get your creative juices going. We all go through dry periods and I think once in a while it's a great idea to try something new. I'd recommend this as I find that for me it's been a great tool!

Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about the My Artist's Way Toolkit.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.



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Thursday, May 31, 2012

BlogHer Book Club: The First Husband


The First Husband by Laura Dave should be the first book you read this summer. Throw it in your beach bag or enjoy it on the plane, you will not be disappointed!

Dave carefully tells a tale of a woman who thinks she has it all until one day she hears those awful words, “we may need a break” (Dave, 7) Those simple five words grabbed me and I found myself immersed in a love story like no other I have read. The twists and turns are not only unpredictable but also very realistic. I felt like I was in Annie’s shoes many times while reading and found myself upset, elated , depressed, happy, etc.

This is not your typical boy meets girl story were they don’t like each other, then they do and end up together at the end. This story is more like something that would happen to your best friend and the way Dave writes it’s as if your friend was telling you about it over a latte at the local coffee shop. At one point I found myself asking “why” out loud while I read. Annie doesn’t necessarily take the easy route but perhaps that’s what makes the tale so interesting to read.

This book is one that will resonate with people in and out of relationships. It might hit closer to home for those in a relationship because the beginning of the book is a common nightmare. However, for those not in a relationship it will be interesting to see how someone falls out of love and the ability they have to learn to love again. Dave weaves this learning to love again in a way that is suspiciously easy when in reality Annie struggles and fights like no other.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy soon to enjoy this summer!
 
Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about this book.

This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.



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Sunday, May 6, 2012

Teacher Appreciation Week


 My kids have wonderful teachers this year! As Teacher Appreciation Week starts tomorrow we spent some time this weekend making gifts for them.

We love giving flowers to make their desks pretty so I had each kid write "Thank you" and sign their names on a mason jar. I had them write it with a Sharpie so that the writing won't wipe off but they can scrub it off at a later date to use the jar for something else. We wrapped the edges with some ribbon and called it a day.


Lastly I made the teachers a washer necklace. These are all over Pinterest and I have been dying to make some. I found really nice quality washers at ACE Hardware and the leather cord and beads are from the craft store. My husband had to help me with the actual stamping and we found that if you wrap the washer in masking tape it prevents them from moving around and thus prevents 'shaky' letters.


I hope the teachers love their presents and more importantly I hope they know how much we appreciate them! 

Proudly linking to:
mop it up mondaysMakingMaking your home sing Mondays Sumo Sweet Stuff Keeping It Simple mmm button MoMomma










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Wednesday, May 2, 2012

BlogHer Book Club: You Have No Idea


As a fan of memoirs I was thrilled to be picked to review "You Have No Idea", the untold story of Vanessa Williams' life. I'll start by saying that I knew very little about her before starting this book which may or may not have influenced my reaction to it. I found it to be a beautiful story about a mother and a daughter. Because of the way it’s written with both Vanessa and her mom Helen telling the story at times it feels like we are eavesdropping into their conversations. Vanessa was thrown into a lifestyle of fame without much preparation and throughout the book we see how her mother was able to help her with the transition while teaching her very important life lessons.

Perhaps the most striking part of the book for me was the retelling of her winning the Miss America pageant. Not the actual crowning, but what happened later. Vanessa writes "The first black Miss America. I'd made history!" (pg. 31) Unfortunately this win was not received well by everyone and she faced racism from both sides of the fence. Later the crown was taken away from her because of an unfortunate leak of inappropriate pictures that had been taken years before. But before that happened her reign was shadowed by threatening calls and mail from those who felt she didn’t deserve this title.

This would be a great book to give to any mother or daughter because more than a memoir it seems like a great story of the relationship between Vanessa and her mom.


Please join me at the BlogHer Book Club page HERE for more discussions about this book. This was a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.



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