Cuteness Alert!! OSU Baby Booties...

My sweet friend Sarah P. recently gave birth to a beeeeautiful baby girl. She and her hubby Daniel named their adorable baby Rachel Ann - so precious!! Yesterday after work I dropped by Sarah's home to spend a little snuggle time with her new baby. (Is there anything better in this world than snuggling and rocking a newborn baby? I think not!!) Anyhoo, Sarah went to college at Oklahoma State University, (GO POKES!!), so I decided that I needed to stitch up an uber-cute pair of OSU inspired baby booties for little Rachel Ann:

If you'd like to make some cute baby booties for the sweet babies in your life, you can click HERE for the link to the pattern. If you need a little inspiration, you can click HERE to see some of the other baby booties that I have made.

Thanks for dropping by...stay crafty my friends! :)

Our Fun and Restful Labor Day Weekend...

Hi, friends! On Saturday I went to the new Pinot's Palette that recently opened in Broken Arrow. If you aren't familiar with Pinot's Palette, it is a franchise where you can go to paint a picture on a canvas while being guided by an instructor. Each class that they offer is different, and it's so much fun!! Here's my finished painting; I just need to have it framed...

Along with painting and hanging out at home, today brought the opening morning of dove season, which borders on being a religious holiday for my hubby and son - ha! ha! Here is a photo of them after their hunt this morning:

Lastly, here's a photo of Justin and his faithful hunting buddy, Scout. Scout turned 1 in July, and Justin has been working with him for months to prepare him for hunting season. Scout did a great job of retrieving birds for the guys this morning, and Justin was so proud!

Well, it's my bedtime, and I return to work tomorrow, so I'm going to say goodnight! Have a SUPER week!!

Blessings,

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Enjoy the weekend...kick back and relax!!

Masculine Birthday Cards

Hi, friends! Just a quick post today to show you some of the masculine cards that I created last weekend....

I love how they turned out...amazing what can be created with a few scraps, isn't it? :)

Enjoy the upcoming 3-day weekend for Labor Day...have fun and be safe!

Blessings,

From Large Soup Can to Cute Gift Tin...

Hi, folks! I hope that you had a great weekend! The temps here in Oklahoma have been reeeeally hot, so we just stayed in where it was cool. (So thankful for air conditioning!)

I piddled around the house and got a few craft projects made. One of the cute things that I created was this fun gift tin, which is perfect to tuck fresh-from-the-oven cookies in, or maybe a jar of preserves, before sharing them with a friend or neighbor. :)

Begin by gathering your supplies...here's what you'll need:

• Large soup can that has been washed and dried - make sure there are no sharp edges
• Burlap
• Spray adhesive
• Wire coat hanger
• Wire cutter and pliers
• Torn strips of gingham fabric
• Jute twine
• Button
• Yellow cotton fabric cut into 5 oval shaped pieces
• Green fabric cut into a leaf shape
• Tag
• Crop-A-Dile
• Tacky Glue

Using your Crop-A-Dile, punch a hole on either side of the tin can:

Cover the can with spray adhesive and wrap a piece of burlap around the can, adding a little more adhesive where the seams meet, if necessary:

Wrap two or three of the strips of torn gingham fabric around the center of the can and tie in the front:

To create the flower that you'll attach to the front of the can, cut a scrap of yellow cotton fabric into 5 oval shapes. Stitch the flower together in the center...

Tack a green fabric leaf to the back of the stitched flower and glue a button that's been tied with a piece of jute twine to the center of the flower. Glue the flower to the front of the can:

Using wire cutters, cut the bottom piece off of a wire coat hanger to fashion a bail handle for the tin:

To create a curly-q on the handle, wrap the wire around a pen:

Slide the wire off of the pen and place one of the ends in the hole that you punched in the can. Bend the wire to secure the bail handle, and repeat on the other side:

Tie a strip of torn gingham and jute twine to the bail handle and add a tag to the front, if desired. My tag reads, "Add to your joy by counting your blessings"...

Now tuck some wrapped goodies into your tin, add a bit of coordinating tissue paper, and give away to a friend or neighbor to brighten their day! :)

Have a terrific week!!

Quote Sunday

Silly Saturday

Have a fun and safe weekend, friends!!

How to "Age" Paper and Fabric for Craft Projects...

Good morning, folks! Today I'm going to share with you how I "age" new crisp, white paper doilies to make them look like they just came out of Grandma's trunk that's been sitting in the attic for 50 years...

I usually purchase my paper doilies at the Dollar Tree. They have different sizes and shapes for only $1.00 per package...what a steal! The heart doilies are usually seasonal, so I pick those up around Valentine's day so that I'll have them on hand when I need them.

Here's my paper aging recipe:

• 1 cup of boiling water (leftover coffee can be used as well)
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. imitation vanilla flavoring

In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir until the mixture is a pretty brownish color. (The cinnamon and vanilla gives the items you are aging a nice smell, too!) Carefully add doilies to the mixture and allow to sit for a few seconds. (You can usually put 2 or 3 small doilies in the bowl at one time, but I age the larger doilies individually to prevent/minimize tearing.) 

Using wooden tongs, (I use my Pampered Chef condiment tongs for this!), carefully turn the doily over in the mixture, and then remove and place on a tea towel to dry. Once they are dry, you may repeat the process until you achieve the shade you desire. (The doilies shown in the photo above were dipped and dried twice.)

This process also works for tags, crocheted doilies, cotton fabrics, metal rimmed tags, cotton ribbons and twine. I use these items on craft projects that I want to look antiqued or distressed. If the doilies tear a little, don't worry! That just adds to the imperfect beauty of the aging process! :)

Happy crafting!

Reversible Brad Pendant Necklace Tutorial...

Happy Monday, friends! Today I'm going to share with you a quick tutorial on how to create pretty necklaces from jumbo brads. The one that I'm showing you today is reversible and I made it for my super sweet friend, Darla W.

Here's a pic of one side:

And here's a pic of the reverse side:

Let's get started!! You'll need a large brad, (which I found at my local Hobby Lobby), and some basic crafting materials, such as scrap paper, pearls or beads, cording to string the pendant on, decorative bale and Mod Podge Dimensional Magic.

The brad that I used for this project measured about 1 1/4" across the middle:

Remove the prongs from the back side using a pair of wire cutters. Trim them even against the edge of the brad, so as not to have any sharp edges:

Pour your beads or pearls into the concave side of the brad and then add Mod Podge Dimensional Magic over the top of the beads or pearls.

Top the beads or pearls with little embellishments, such as tiny keys, letters, etc. and allow to thoroughly dry before turning the brad over to decorate the smooth side.

To decorate the smooth side of the brad, I used a scrap of decorative paper. I attached the paper to the brad using Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, and then added a coat of Dimensional Magic to the top of the paper to give it a glossy look. Carefully place a bale into the wet Dimensional Magic, and allow to thoroughly dry. Once dry, you can add a strip of rhinestones to the outer edge if desired...as you can see, I used black rhinestones.

String the finished pendant onto a silk cord and then enjoy all of the compliments that you'll receive when you wear it! :)

Wishing you a WONDERFUL week!!