Mother's Day Ideas

This post is dedicated to the people like me that are searching for the perfect gifts for their mothers.  If your like me, I struggle with tyring to come of with the perfect gift for someone that does so much for me. 

 For the crafy people here is a link to a blog called Ruffles and Stuff.  This whole month she has dedicated her posts to making things for mothers day check it out here http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/. This site has great tutorials for beginners like me. 

Martha Stewarts blog had a great idea to make a grocery bag out of an old t-shirt.  Which can be found here http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2010/04/bags-for-earth-day.html. 

Little Birdie Secrets blog had a super cute idea to add some frill to dirty household projects do woman likes found here http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2008/11/not-your-mamas-rubber-gloves.html.

If any of you have questions about the links let me know. If more are interested I will post more ideas for thsoe that are looking to make something for Mother's Day gifts.  I am currently working on a few projects but can't tell you about them because a few of my readers are recipients of the gifts...hmmm hmmm.

For those not looking to craft anything a few ideas are:

• Buy a hosehold plant
• Gift card to her favorite store
• Gift card for a dinner date
• Gift card for a mani and pedi
• IOU coupons (great for kids to give)
• Flowers
• Bake her something sweet
• Hit up Ann Taylor Loft
• Frame a picture of you with your Mom

(I know I am lame with ideas...it was hard not to think out of the crafty world.) 

If you are on a budget the most important thing is that you spend the day with the lady that brought you into this world and give her a hug.  I am sure that will mean much for than some silly hosehold plant any day.

A Time for Everything

It seems like lately there has been a lot going on.  With Mother's Day and Graduation festivities right around the corner there is a lot going on in our family.  With every occasion there is a card to be made.  Which reminds me of the bible verse Ecclesiastes 3:1 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven".
Sunday evening I sat down to make 6  cards and when I sat down to make them I thought about how funny it was to make 6 different cards for people all of different personalities and how each of the cards have different meanings.  I love nothing more than to create a card soley for that individual and I think in the end I get more of a blessing out of the deal.  Here are few that I made on Sunday. 

If you are not into the whole card making thing--there is nothing wrong with Halmark.  They make beautiful cards too!

"Take a Load Off, Sally"

Add pizaz to your basic plastic outdoor patio chair...

Outdoor patios should be a form of expression--a continuation of your home.  In other words you should try to bring the inside out which provides a "roomy" feel outside.

On our patio we have a grill, plants, table and chairs.  But something was missing on my little patio...and that was COLOR.  Just in time for summer I recovered some indoor pillows I had with outdoor fabric.  The floral print fabric I found at JoAnn's in the remnant section for around $3.  See how cheap it is to add a little pizaz to these basic chairs? 

Corsage Cardigan

For those that don't know me...I love Ann Taylor Loft. But often times do not like their prices. Most of the things that are purchased from there are on sale. I loved the sweater pictured below from ATL and thought I would try and see if I could so something comparable.

Ann Taylor Loft's version

Whitney's version

What do you think...pretty close! I used a patterned chiffon fabric instead of cotton. I got many compliments on it today. (Since this picture I added another corsage but didn't get around to taking another photo)

The wonderful thing about this, is this is a basic black plain cardigan.  The corsages I made as pins so that they are interchangable and can be pinned on another shirt or sweater. 

Stay tuned and I might teach you how to make one...if your interested?

Stop and Smell the Roses

I know you all have heard the expression "take time to stop and smell the roses". Well if you have not stopped to enjoy the beautiful spring flowers--you should. This is the most beautiful season and I thought I would dedicate this post to God's beautiful creations.

Happy Spring everyone!

Easter Gifts on a Budget

Refashioned Beverage Napkins

From this....

To this....

Cute. Cute. Cute. I loved the way these napkins turned out! Phil was cleaning out his closet a couple weeks ago and pulled out this old Polo dress shirt he no longer cared for. I thought this shirt is terribly cute what should I do with it. I thought long and hard and this is what I came up with--beverage napkins. Beverage napkins are nice when you are outside and need a little something to wrap around your beverage--why would anyone not like a set for their patio?

Here's how to do the project:

1. Steal your husband’s old dress shirt

2. Measure the size you would like your beverage napkin to be

3. I measured mine 8 x 8 but if you would like them bigger 12 x 12 is a nice size

4. Grab a ruler and turn down your raw edges 1/4 of an inch or if you are a beginner like me turn them down 1/2 of an inch

5. Remember to have the faded side up when pinning your edges

6. Iron your edges and pin

7. Sew your edges

8. Unpin and you’re all finished!

If you want to sew on a "yo yo" like I have done thats another post/subject but contact me if you are interested.

If  I am unclear on the directions please let me know and I can clarify. 

 

All Purpose Spice Rub

Men typically love to grill. This I thought would be a perfect gift to give Dad since he is very much into brines, marinades, and rubs. I found the recipe on marthastewart.com. What's nice about this Easter goody is that all of the ingredients found in the recipe are typically in ones cabinet. I mixed up the rub and put it in a plastic bag. Included was a recipe card in which I wrote out the recipe for his future reference. Personalized recipe cards were found online at polkadotpress.com but are available everywhere and make nice gifts. Once packaged it looked really nice (a lot better than in a Ziploc)

 

Give me feedback--what do you think?

Easter Goodies

More of the chocolate goodies! Do I make you hungry?

 Easter would not be complete without chocolate and candies.

This is the top of a chocolate covered pretzel in yellow.  I bought an egg mold made by Wilton and gave this a try.  They make them for every season pretty much and turn out really cute.  You fill the mold with any color chocolate you would like and then put the pretzel on top.  And of course you again cover the pretzel with chocolate.  Stick them in the fridge for 10 minutes until they completely harden.  To the touch if they are hard they should pop right out and look like the picture.  You may have to trim the excess chocolate around the pattern of the mold.  In this case I trimmed around the egg.

I made these for a girls lunch I had at my house on Saturday.  They enjoyed them too!