1st Day of Preschool Pictures - What works!

My "baby" girl turned 3 over the summer and I can.not.believe that she is already old enough for preschool! Where did my 'ittle bitty baby go?! *Sniff, Sniff*

Mother and child held it together rather well...

She practically jumped her way to the classroom, and me...?
Well...I waited till I made it to work to cry.
Okay...maybe not all the way to work, but mostly. *Wink*

Which brings us to today.

I wanted to share my idea with you about preschool pictures.
We all love to have those little memento's and I don't know about you, but it can be a chore to get a 3 year old to stand still for pics. Are you with me??

So, instead of spending a gosh awful amount of time on some construction project that may or may not make it into the picture correctly, I thought it'd be a good idea to just use a plain white sheet of paper, cardboard, construction paper...what have you and photo edit the information in.

And guess what?
It worked perfect!

After our pictures were all said and done, all I had to do was load them, type in the information I wanted displayed and Viola!

Now we have a forever memory masterpiece without the headache or near worry of whether she'd remember to turn this way or that'a way so we could all see what her sign said.

Your next question, I'm sure, is how do you "edit".

Let's go through it.

1.                   Go to picmonkey.com
2.            Click “Edit Picture”
3.            To add text to your photo – You’ll have a menu bar on the far left hand side that looks like    this:  

                        

4.           You’ll want to click on the left sided column, 4^th option down “P”

5.           This is where you can pick your font, size, color etc. – 1^st choose your font. (FYI – most     fonts are free, but everything with a crown next to it, is considered a “royal” treatment and     you do have to pay for those.)

6.           Once your font is chosen, select “Add Text” (Up at the very top)

7.           This is what your screen should look like:

8.                   From here, just chose what you want to say, coloring, size, etc.

9.         Once text placement is made, you'll want to arrange.  There is a small circle at the very top that lets you adjust and rotate text.

10.       Now it's time to save.  Pretty self explanatory, but make sure that when saving (if you’re wanting to keep your original picture as well) that you re-name the picture file before saving!

Hope you Momma's (Daddy's, Grandma's and Grandpa's) out there find this beneficial as well.
I don't know about you, but I'm hoping this saved me a few gray hairs - Hehe

DIY Chalkboard

One of the wedding crafts I was working on earlier this year was a DIY Chalkboard.
The initial plan here was to just buy a chalkboard, but have you scoped the scenes for them?!?
I could not believe how much $$$ people wanted for something as simple as this, when you can easily make it yourself.

So if you're looking for a simple wedding craft, a little extra pizzazz for that birthday or holiday party, or just want something to throw in the playroom to let your kids have a creative outlet, this is right up your alley!

You'll Need:
1, piece of MDF, Shelving, whatever kind of wood-ish board that fits the scale of how large you want your completed piece.  My board is approximately (16 x 24)
Wood glue
Clamps
2, 2x8 pieces of wood, optional
Primer
Chalkboard paint, I used Valspar
Paint rollers
Stain or alternate paint color (if framing your chalkboard), optional

Let's get started...

Prime all your pieces and let them dry 100%. 

 If you're framing your chalkboard, I recommend using a thicker piece of wood.

 Once all the pieces have been primed, paint your main "chalkboard" piece with chalkboard paint.

After the chalkboard paint has dried, you are ready to cut out your frame.

Which I should say - "Thank you, husband."

Apparently, he didn't trust me with his power tools.  Sniff...but really...I don't blame him.  Haha

He 45'd each end piece so that the seams would be, well...seamless.

  Since mine was for a wedding, he also routed to outsides for me, to give it a higher end look.

I heart it.
*Squee*

Once all the pieces are cut to size, paint or stain the "frame" in the color you'd like.

Dry completely, then attached the backside of the "frame" with wood glue to your completed chalkboard piece, and clamp down around the sides to keep it in place.

Wood glue, if you've never worked with it before, does take awhile to dry.
I love this stuff and use it for everything tho, because it works so awesome!
Just make sure you dry it completely.  I left mine overnight and the entire next day.

 Once it's dry, remove the clamps.

Sit your piece upright, slap on a message, and enjoy your new piece of art.

Bacon Rose Bouquet

Let me start off by saying that I wasn't originally going to post this.
I found the idea on Pinterest, BUT, after posting my final creation on my personal Facebook page, I received so many responses with compliments, questions, and "Will I make them one?"

As you can see, they were all welcomed responses, so I figured this is a service you all NEEDED to be provided with!

Now...apparently, I didn't read through the whole PIN on my pinterest board.  I just thought they were cute and did them.

After having several people ask me if I ruined a muffin pan creating them, I was like "Huh?"
The original PIN says you need to drill holes in a muffin pan.
While that's creative, there is certainly no need to do that.

Now...I do not have step by step pictures, because like I said, I was not planning on doing a blog post on this.  However, I will try my best to provide you all with as much information as I can since tomorrow is V-day and this would be absolutely presh to give your man!

I did go back through and try to take some snap shots of dissecting your flower pieces. That and how to build the roses were by far the most popular questions.  Again, I will do my best to explain, but feel free to comment or ask questions.

Let's start.

You'll need:
1 package of bacon - Whatever flavor you like.  (Note - I have not used turkey bacon.  Let me know if you try!)
1 faux flower bouquet
toothpicks
cookie sheet with lip - I used a jelly roll pan
foil


To start; begin by taking off your faux flower heads off the stems.
Most come off with a gentle tug, but the reenactment, which will hopefully benefit some. FYI: I did not do a reenactment of the roses.

Gentle Tug

Flower Detaches from steam

Pull Plastic Nub Piece Out, Remove Flower

Reattach the Nub to the Greenary

And there you have it.

Alright - Time for bacon!
Preheat your oven to 350.
Line your cookie sheet with foil.
Lay your bacon out flat. (I worked right on the cookie sheet)
Roll bacon into a spiral, keeping it nice and tight. Fat side of bacon will be on the bottom.
Tip: One thing I wished I would have done was focus more on the bottom of the "rose"  make sure it stays nice and tight.  I found that they're not easily transported if the bottom (the fatty side) doesn't have a nice "seal" (I guess we'll call it) on the flower steam.  Mine stayed fine for presentation purposes, but I wouldn't have wanted them to ride solo in the passenger seat of my car.
Fat side (bottom) you will secure with toothpicks in a criss-cross fashion.  I put one closer to the bottom and one right through the middle.
Continue same steps with the remaining pieces of bacon.
Tip:  If you plan to use just the amount of bacon you need - I highly recommend doing a couple extra's in case some look better than the others.
Cook bacon for 20-25 mins or until cooked through.
Let the bacon cool before handling.  About 5 min's.
While you're waiting for the bacon to cool, grab your vase and your stems.
Tip: If you're doing a small bacon bouquet, like I did, I couldn't find a vase small enough to hold them upright, so choice to use a decanter.  Worked fabulously!
Once bacon is cool, attached the individual pieces it to the tops of the stems, and Present.

I gave this to my husband for our 10 year.
His reaction?  At 1st he thought they were real flowers!  He had to do a triple look!!
A week later, he is still talking about these and even told the girls at work, they  needed to do one for their husbands.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he liked it ;)

I know the men in your life will too!

Enjoy,

Elf Yourself Bow

Sometimes I surprise myself when I sit down to make my bow creations.  I'm not saying that in a braggish sort of way.  Just in a way, that you never really know how good (or bad!) something is going to turn out until it's finished, and I'm pleasantly surprised with these. :)

So far, this is the only bow (outside of Santa) that my daughter begs to wear.  She has 2, one for each piggy tail, and she named her elves Judy and Emily.  :)

To start on your darlings bows;

You'll Need:
3/8" Grosgrain Cream Ribbon
3/8" Grosgrain White Ribbon
3/8" Grosgrain Green Ribbon
3/8" Grosgrain Red Ribbon
3/8" Grosgrain Ribbon in the color of hair you'd like to use.  I was making multiple ribbons for the girls in my life, some were blonde (gold) and others brunette (chocolate brown).
Tiny Santa Hats (found mine at Hobby Lobby)
Mini Jingle Bells, Optional
Puff Paint, Optional
Scissors
Lighter (to seal)
Wooden Skewer, optional

To begin, as always plug in your glue gun, so it's hot and ready when you are.

Next, cut 3.75" of your cream ribbon for the body.  Since my daughter was "helping" me make these, these are all guestimation on measurements, but they're all pretty close, I'd say.  Below you'll see that I use my lighter as a reference, so you can see 1st hand what it should look like.

 

Heat seal your ends.

Next, we'll create the face of your elf.  It's simple enough.  Just wrap the ribbon around your finger or thumb to create a loop. 

Place a small amount of glue where you want to secure the face and sit aside.

Now, we'll move onto the arms.  Cut 3.25" of your cream ribbon, and heat seal the ends.

Fold the "arms" at an angle, and seal with glue in the middle, so your image looks like this:

Then top and glue the body

Cut red ribbon to size for sleeves and heat seal the ends

Just like you did for the arms, fold the shirt at an angle, and seal with glue in the middle, so your image looks like this:

 Attach the sleeves to the arms with glue

Cut and seal the middle of your shirt:

Attach to the middle of the shirt:

Let's move onto the skirt...Created 3 loops.  You'll start with a "V", and make one loop directly in the middle.  Then attach your skirt to the body directly under the shirt.

Cut 2 pieces of white ribbon for the legs approximately 2.5" each and heat seal.

 

So they resemble legs, I cross them a bit at the top and seal with glue before attaching the "legs" to the "body".

 To attach the pieces, flip over the body, and attach to backside

Moving onto the tights.

 I couldn't find candy cane striped ribbon in the uniform I wanted, so I opted to use puff paint.  I love how it brought a different texture to the bow, and overall it turned out really great.  

When working with puff paint, allow your paint to fully dry before moving forward with your bow.  I highly recommend overnight.

Another thought, is to use a sharpie if you're in a rush!

 

Moving onto the hair:

I chose curly hair, but you could easily leave your ribbon straight for straight hair, and it will look just as cute!  My daughter has curly hair, so I thought the curls for a special touch.

For instructions on curling ribbon, please visit here. 

For the hair, you can make it as short or as long as you want.  Just play with the length.  Remember you will wrapping the "hair" across the head, so that will take away some of the length.

My curled ribbon pieces were roughly 5.5" pieces.  Some longer, some shorter.  I made about 10 of these, so it all depending on who they were for and the age of the girl.

To attach the hair, place a decent amount of hot glue on the top of the head.  Tip: If your unsure of where the placement of the hat will be, it's best to glue more towards the back than front, as the front is on display.

Press the "hair" onto the "head" and hold for a few seconds.

Now for the hat!  I adore the hat!!

My hats came in a six pack, which was perfect for this project.  

Just add glue to the crown of the head, then a small amount around the rim of your Santa hat

Using your skewer, allow it to assist you in adding the hat to the elf's head without getting glue everywhere.

 

Here's a side by side.  

I did reverse sides for the tassel, so if you had them in pigtails, it would be uniform. 

For the feet...Cut a small square, and then clip one corner at an angle for the shoe, and heat seal.  Watch your fingers, so you don't burn yourself!

 If you'd like; Sew on a mini jingle bell on each foot and viola...

One cute, cute, cute, little elf!

How will you elf yourself?

Traditions - Santa's Cookie Plate

 

When my daughter came along, like most mother's, I couldn't wait for her 1st Christmas!  I adore this time of year; and Santa...oh, there's so much to be said about this jolly ol' fellow.  He and his helpers prepare all year long and then, when Christmas Eve comes, he travels all over the world in one single night to deliver special gifts to children.  There's something to be said about that.  Especially this time of year.

Like most families, we leave something special for Santa and his reindeer to keep them going strong for their long night of travel.  What do you leave for Santa?  What about his reindeer?

We typically sit out a tall glass of milk, cookies, and carrots.  Mmm!

This year, since my daughter is old enough, I wanted to create a cookie plate for Santa, that we can use for many years to come.

If you're a traditionalist too, or just like to have plain ol' fun; Head on over to Holiday's Homemade for the full tutorial.

This project is perfect for you, and this idea would be great to do for birthday's too!!

Santa Wreath

Only 10 days, 14 hours till Christmas, but who's counting?! ME!! ;)

Don't forget to come see me today!  I'm hosting at Holiday's Homemade, and I've got a Ho! Ho! Ho! Hooooliday Wreath! 

 See ya there!

Faux Bedskirt

I have been wanting a cute bed skirt for my daughters room.  She has had her big girl bed for 6 months now, and she loves the bedding, but me being me felt like something was missing.

Even though no one else cares if she had a bed skirt (including her!), I wanted it.  I think it can really make a room (sometimes).

With Christmas being less than 2 weeks away (Wee!!!), now was not exactly an ideal time to be spending $ on something like this.  Especially since the one I want is a bit pricey!  eek!

So, I'm improvising for the time being, and decided to use an old curtain we had downstairs in our basement.  It was just taking up space, and it happened to turn out pretty perfectly.

Since so many of you have enjoyed her bed roll up I created, I thought I would share this project as well.

So far, I really like it.  It's been on there for 2 weeks now, and it has stayed perfectly in place.

I have been toying with the idea of just leaving it, but maybe dying the curtain a different shade.  The khaki goes really well with both sides of her bedding, but like most little girls - She adores pink!

Maybe something like this will work for you?

Just steam or iron out the wrinkles

Not too shabby for a free project.  Momma likes!

No-Slip Holiday Socks

In case you missed me Saturday over at Holiday's Homemade, here is a recap!

Yours truly gives a short tutorial on how to create No-Slip Holiday Socks for your little (or big!) ones!

Enjoy!