Monster Party Finale: The Party Recap

So, let's do a recap of the whole party.

The invitations and decorations were pretty simple.  I threw together these invites in Publisher.

Then filled the house with bright colors and monsters galore.  Find more details here.

The food was all monster themed.  We had monster smiles, monster ears, monster teeth, monster earwax, monster eyes and noses, monster fingers, monster toes, and some pretty adorable cupcakes if I do say so myself.  Get more details on the food here.

 

 

 

We had two activities for the kids to do.  The first was some adorable handprint monsters, the other was a sticker monster kit I picked up.  For details, click here.

The favors were playdoh, M&Ms, and bubbles given in these cute bags as well as plushy monsters.  You can find the complete tutorial for all of this here.

 

 

 

I hope you go back and grab every juicy detail of this party so that you can have an awesome monster party for your little monsters.  We'll be planning a cowgirl party next....until then, here's a kiss for the road.

 

 

 

 



See y'all next time.

 

 

Mother's Day Gift for the Cooking Momma

I have been oh so blessed to have a family full of cooking women!  They have seasoned my life with their knowledge about God, life, family, and food. This mother's day, I wanted to give them kitchen gifts with a personal touch.

I started by picking up some good quality, inexpensive bamboo cutting boards and utensil sets.  I used this method from another post of mine to put each lady's initial and decorative flowers on each utensil and their name and flowers onto the cutting boards.

Ok, and maybe a heart for each, too.  After all, we do want them to know we love them.

 Mimi's cutting board is looking so sweet!

 Here is one of grammy's spoons!

Next, I grabbed some of the flour sack dish cloths left over from our Pin Tuck Dish Towels and got to work putting ruffles on each one.  Granny Carol got pink paisley ruffles, Mimi got white ruffles, and Grammy got green ruffles.  I am posting a separate tutorial for the ruffled cloths, so stay tuned!

This is Granny Carol's completed set. If I have a little extra time between now and then, I am going to embroider something cute onto each dish towel.

We are also throwing in some of these cute little bead suncatchers that the kids made more of recently.

We are also wrapping each present in a special wrapping paper we created, but that is another post for another day.

I think each of these special ladies are really going to love their box of kitchen happies.

Let me know if you tried any of this for your Mother or another special lady in your life!

Bathroom Step Stool for Under $2

For those of you who know me...I have a deep love for PROJECTS!  If I can tackle a new project or new hobby, I somehow feel so very accomplished.  My most recent hobby is carpentry....very light carpentry of course, but carpentry nonetheless.  I was browsing Ana White's website and found a building plan for this adorable little bathroom stepstool and couldn't resist.  This is just what I need at my house as I attempt to potty train one child and prepare to start potty training another.

Here is the link to her plans: http://ana-white.com/2012/01/plans/bathroom-helper-step

Here is what you will need: (I had everything on hand but the lumber)

2 1x2 boards @ 8 ft (94 cents a piece at my favorite blue store)
A power drill/screwdriver
1 1/2 inch wood screws
finish or paint of your choice
120 grit sandpaper

Even if you had to buy your sandpaper and screws, this would still cost you less than $10.

& if you are cutting your wood yourself...a saw, eye protection, and hearing protection

I had my boys at my favorite blue store cut my wood for me...they do it for free and it saves SO much time and cleanup.

Cut List:

5 @ 17 1/2 inches
2 @ 16 inches
4 @ 11 inches

Cut these in order for the best results.  I had a pretty nice sized scrap piece leftover.  You could use it for two additional 11 inch pieces if you wanted to make your stool a little taller, but I'll tell you where to do that as I tell you about the process.

Here's what you do:

Start by attaching two 11 inch pieces to the outside of your two 16 inch pieces, forming a rectangle frame.  Predrill all holes before attaching, and check for square after this step.

Attach your first slat to the top of the frame, predrilling holes.  There should be no overhang on the sides.

Next attach the slat on the complete opposite side in the same manner.  This will allow you to space the slats evenly between the two outside edges.

Install the remaining slats, evenly spacing them across your frame.  Then turn your work over.

Attach your remaining two 11 inch pieces as risers for the stool.  At this point, if you need for your stool to be higher, you would add an additional two pieces to the bottoms of these.  I felt this would be high enough for us.

Sand your project down and paint or stain as you choose.

VOILA!  You completed a bathroom step stool....and it cost you less than $2 to make!!

 My little man says no to pants much too often!  This stool is just the right size for him to get onto the potty or wash his little hands. 

Did you try this?  Post a pic or tell me about it!

                                                          

Bow Drawer to Bow-tique

For years, I have stored bows, headbands, head wraps, ponytail holders, and more in the top dresser drawer of my daughter's room.  Lately, with two girls, it has gotten to be quite a huge mess to dig through in the mornings.  As I was rearranging the girls' room this week, I decided it was finally time to do something about the mess.

I started by attaching three vertical ribbons to the left side of the dresser, which was a whiteboard.  I did this with a staple gun and staples, but your method may vary based on the material you are attaching to.

All of the bows on the two ribbons to the right are alligator clip bows.  The second from the left are barrette closures.  The far left are assorted, oddball closures along with snap clips and bobby pins.  Hanging from the far left ribbon is a ponytail holder with all of their claw clips clipped around it.

This is WAY more attractive than the giant mess the drawer was before.  I wish I had taken before pictures.  It was ROUGH.  Look again...I even color sorted each bow style.

That was great for the bows, but the girls still had a ton of headbands and head wraps to organize.  After a few minutes of scratching my head, I headed to the kitchen to grab a paper towel holder.

Perfection!  This worked great for all of their headbands and headwraps.  This may be a temporary solution depending on how well it works out, but so far it is amazing.

Last, but not least....I needed something to do with the 85 million ponytail holders.  You have no idea how serious I am...but you are about to.  Since I had already robbed the kitchen once, I headed in there again for a finishing touch on the girls' bow-tique.  A ROLLING PIN!  You can buy a cheap one if you don't have one in the kitchen to spare.  This is an antique one that was given to me as a gift. (I have five rolling pins)

This is probably my favorite solution out of this whole project.  It fits perfectly inside the front of the top drawer too! 

This made the bows much easier to see and access.  It also protects her headbands from getting all smooshed and broken like they have been getting lately.  The best part though....it freed up almost the entire top drawer for swim suits and accessories!  Every girl needs a little more storage space.

Let me know if you use any of these solutions for yourself or your daughter.  Keep crafting, and have fun!

Pin Tuck Dish Towels

Hi!  Welcome to Fabulous Friday!  I haven't posted in a while....life has been C.R.A.Z.Y!  We have been so busy with softball and family activities that I completely neglected you.  I am back in action now.  While I was away, we had an opportunity to do some cleaning up and clearing out.  That means I got to bring my sewing things back down from the attic.  That makes me happy happy happy.  The first order of business was to start piecing a quilt my mom and I are working on (HUGE project).  Then, I made a dress I had cut the pieces for quite some time ago (see pic at bottom of post).  As I was thinking of what to make next, and cleaning the house of course, I ran across the list I made of things I would like to make for Laney's hope chest this year.  On the list was a set of pin tuck dish towels.  YES!  I even had already purchased the necessary flour sack towels.  This was such a fun project.  Let's get started on yours.

Here's what you need:

Flour sack dish towels (pack of 5 for around $5 at Wal Mart)
White Thread
Sewing Machine
Iron
Scissors

Alright, do you have all of your supplies?  Then let's get started!

The absolute first thing you want to do is to wash and dry the towels.  This is to make sure they are done shrinking.  Unfortunately, it makes them come out looking like this....

Don't worry!  Most of that will iron right out.  Go ahead and iron out as much of the wrinkles as you can.  You want to set the iron so that it steams.  The trickiest part about this step is getting the edge you will be working with as straight as possible.  The flour sack cloth is very pliable, so the edges stretch easily.  At any rate, you should come out with an edge looking like this.

Once you have your straight edge, it is time to begin ironing the crease that will become your first pintuck.  Go ahead and fold the edge of the fabric under.  I use old country measurements, so I measured halfway down the fattest part of my finger.....but for scientific purposes, let's say 2 1/4 inches.

Press this crease so that it stays when you move the cloth to the sewing machine.  You can pin it if you feel more comfortable that way.  I hate pinning fabric.  Move your cloth to the sewing machine, and run a stitch the full length of the crease we just made.  I wanted a fairly wide pin tuck, so I aligned it to my 3/8 seam allowance marker.  If you want thinner pin tucks, feel free to adjust this to 1/4 or whatever you like.

Once you have done that, you will move back to the ironing board.  Open the folded cloth up, and iron the pin tuck down toward the edge we ironed straight earlier.

Now fold the cloth as we did before to make another pin tuck.  This time you will want to use a smaller measurement.  In country measure, I used the second joint of my finger. If you are actually measuring, we will call it 1 1/2". Crease, sew, iron, and repeat until desire number of tucks have been made.

I chose to make three pin tucks.  I just liked the look of that and stopped.  You should feel absolutely at liberty to make as few or as many pin tucks as you like.

Once you have finished making the pin tucks, you will need to secure them in their downward facing positions. To do this, you will run a stitch beginning at the top of the top pin tuck and extending to the bottom of the bottom pin tuck.

Trim your loose thread ends and give your towel a last press with the iron.  Tada! You did it!

Since I was making this for Laney's hope chest, I actually went ahead and tied a stack of three of these up with some yarn to keep them together and give them a little touch of love.

I am very excited about how these turned out.  I think these would be amazing to add a monogram and give as a wedding gift as well.  I plan to make another set for sweet little Leah soon.

As promised, here is the picture of the little dear wearing the dress I made her earlier in the week.

We were waiting for Laney's softball game to start. 

Well, that's it for now guys and gals!  I hope you enjoyed this project as much as I did.  If you try it out yourself, you'll have to let me know!

Melted Snowmen Ornaments

Every year, my mom and I have our friends over for what we call the Butts & Beaus Christmas....it is kind of an inside joke. At this gathering, I usually try to present each couple with some sort of happy.  Last year, I gave each couple a collection of jam, jelly, salsa, and preserves from my kitchen.  This year I wanted to do something that was equally as fun, but could be a keepsake.  I decided very early on that I would do a collection of ornaments.  The problem was deciding which ornaments to make first.  Really it just came to down what I had the items on hand to make.  This set of ornaments took me all of about ten minutes to make including gathering supplies.

I love the idea of the melted snowman.  After all, I do live in the deep south.  We don't get snow often, and when we do, our snowmen are dirty and pitiful.  These melty little guys are an adorable addition to any warmer climate Christmas tree.

Here is what you need:
Clear Glass Ornaments
Coarse Kosher Salt
Whole Peppercorns (five per ornament)
Scraps of Orange Paper
Ribbon of Your Choice
Funnel

The first thing you want to do is just to make sure the ornament is clean and free of any debri.  Then remove the silver or gold metal cap from the top.

Once you have removed the cap, you will use your funnel to put a good amount of the kosher salt into the ornament.  I filled mine probably about a quarter full.  Then you will place five whole peppercorns into each ornament.  Two for eyes and three for buttons.  Last, you will add a triangle shaped scrap piece of paper for a nose.

Repeat for the desired number of ornaments.

Then add a length of your choice of ribbon to finish.

You are finished!  Look how adorable these melty little guys are.

I LOVE THEM!  I absolutely love them!  I can't wait to present these to my friends.  They are going to have an absolute fit.  Even my hubs had to admit their obvious cuteness.

These are super easy to make and inexpensive (especially if you have everything you need already in your house).  Salt, pepper, ribbon, and scrap paper are easy to come by.  Add some clear glass ornaments and there ya have it.

I hope you have as much fun making these as I did.  Drop me a picture of how yours turned out or tell me about making them.  I love to hear from you!

Photo Shelves (2 for under $10)

I HATE drilling holes in the walls!  I don't hate it because I am making a hole.  I hate it because inevitably I end up changing my mind on where something should go or what should hang there.  That means I have to fill the hole, paint the hole, and make a new hole.  So frustrating!

These easy and affordable photo shelves are the perfect solution.  Now I can move frames around on the shelves, change out photos easily, and decorate for the seasons if I want without unnecessary damage to my lovely walls!

What you need:
2- 1"x3"x8' boards
1- 1"x2"x8' board
80-120 grit sanding block
1 1/2" long wood screws
Drill/Screwdriver
Stain or paint of your choice
Liquid Nails or other wood glue

I had the lovely men at my favorite big blue store cut these boards in half for me.  If you just want to do the extra work...go ahead and cut these in half.

Tip on selecting boards:  Your life will go so much easier if you select a board that is straight and has very little rough to the edges.  Otherwise, this whole project may be just a teency bit harder.

The 1x2 was $1.97 and the 1x3s were $2.97.  I had the screws, liquid nails, and some stain around the house.  That means that I built TWO of these awesome shelves for around $8!

Ok...so here is what you do:

If you didn't have your nice boys in blue do it for you, cut your boards clean in half.

Mark and predrill holes in each of your backboard pieces at 1/4" from the long edge spaced evenly.  I used five holes for each backboard.  Make sure you have a hole fairly close to each end.

One you have predrilled your holes, line your backboard up with the shelf board making an L shape.  Attach the board securely with wood screws.  Repeat with the other shelf.

Now attach the 1x2 pieces across the front of the shelf board with liquid nails.  This board will not need to support significant weight as it serves as a simple ledge for your shelf.  You could substitute a piece of thin decorative molding of your choice, but you will pay more for that option.  You should now have a modified U shaped shelf.  Let the liquid nails dry and set overnight before you continue.  You may want to use clamps to hold the piece in place.  I just wedged it against a wall.

Once the liquid nails is dry and your shelf ledge is secure, use your sanding block or sandpaper to sand down all of the rough edges and soften any sharp points. Vacuum or blow away any sanding particles and wipe your project with a barely damp cloth to remove any remaining particles.

Now you are ready to paint or stain your project.  I had this stain lying around.  I had originally intended to paint these white, but I think this worked out nicely.  I couldn't locate our extra white trim paint (shame, shame, I know).  Paint or stain your project as desired and let sit to dry for the recommended time (in my case 24 hours) before installing.

It is important to plan out where you want your shelves.  You want to make sure that mine were screwed into wall studs so that if you ever decide to put anything heavy on them, you are good to go.  Put a piece of tape onto the wall where you want your shelves.  Find the studs, marking the tape where they are located.  After that simply tape the tape onto the backboard of the shelves to predrill your holes and then screw the shelves to the wall.  Don't worry about being able to see these screws...once you have things on the shelves, you won't see them at all.

Now, just throw together the items you want!  I picked items all of the same color, but this would also look great with bright, contrasting colors.  Laney loved these so much she has requested them in their room.  I may be making shelves for their birthday girl collections soon.

Now, get out there and try it!!  Let me know if you tried this project at your house.  Pictures welcome!  I love to hear from you.