0 Pillow Pin Cushion

I finally broke down and did it... yup - I made myself a pin cushion! I have not had one for I can't even remember how long. Every time I go to Joann's I look at them, but I never break down and buy one... I've stored my pins in a plastic container and as I sew I pull them out and leave them on the desk. Not a great system, I know! And it has always irritated me, but still, no pin cushion.

So what made me finally make one? Well, I was cleaning up my stock pile of crafting items, trying to finally get everything organized in my new crafting area. I found a pile of fabric scraps from recent projects and decided, tonight was the night. 

This one was upstairs watching TV:

This one was sound asleep:

As was this one:

Perfect time for a quick project! For all of you who have been putting it off - grab a few scraps and a button and throw it together! I am so excited for my next project when I can grab and place my pins with ease - no more spills all over the carpet or hardwood floors!

Happy pinning!

0 A Digital Scrapbooking Resource

Here is a really great site for all of you digital scrapbookers!
http://www.storeide.se/gunhild/

Lots of tips and tricks and of course many fine freebies! I have used a lot of her embellishments in my books.

Building Block Alpha

Here is another freebie from my vault! A building block alpha with drop shadow available for download in png format.
Click here to download the set.

I would love to see your work with this font! Leave links to your layouts in the comments section and I will check it out. And as always, leave some love if you download thiss freebie!

Happy scrapping!

0 Shout-Out

I just want to show some love to the Three Colomn Blogger for their easy to follow tutorial!  Follow the step-by-step instructions to give your blog a three column layout! You won't be disappointed.

Happy blogging.

1 What are little boys made of? Weekly Round-Up #3

 
Welcome to the third installment of What are little boys made of? Weekly Round-Up! This week finds us with more crafty ideas for the lil' guys in our life.

NOTE: Of course my mission is to bring to you crafting ideas for our little men, many of the ideas in these weekly round-ups are unisex and I know many lil' girls who would love them too!

PUZZLE BAGS

Seeing this post at One More Moore instantly transported me back to my youth. My Pepere would make his grandchildren (all 36 of us) puzzles in all different shapes, cats, dogs, trucks, etc. out of wood. My Memere would paint them and then sew puzzle bags to keep them in. The easy to follow tut over at One more Moore will help keep your lil' ones puzzle pieces all in one place when being stored. No more opening the closet or cupboard only to have 20 wooden puzzle pieces falling on your head! Oh - and while you are perusing the blog, look for her Cozy Cone Motel post archived under May. If your litle dude is a fan of the cars movie, then this is a must have!

ROBOT APPLIQUE

I have made my own weekly round-up for the first time!!! Since I have succeeded in my first applique attempt I have become addicted! I drew a very simple robot outline, freehanded the part around the eyes and the belly piece and added the number 2. I was going to put an M instead for my son (Mason) but somehow got sidetracked and came out with a 2 for his age instead!

Mason LOVED the robot and actually walked around with the paper template for an hour before I could pry it out of his hands to trace onto the Wonder Under. I put him down for bed and made the shirt and when he woke up in the morning he LOVED his surprise. Unfortunately I only had a blank long sleeve shirt for him and it has been unseasonably HOT here, so he'll have wait to wear it for a few more weeks!

HOODED TOWEL

I LOVE this idea! I am already planning on making this for two lil' guys this Christmas. I am going to make a towel with their name on it and then get them a bath toy to go with it. I found a good tutorial over at Makes and Takes, but if you google "easy hooded towel for kids" you'll find lots out there.

0 Tooth Fairy Bag, Buy of the Week and More!

A couple of weeks ago I told you about this cute tooth fairy bag tutorial that I found at the purl bee. Well - I just made my first one and it turned out perfect! It took about 20 minutes start to finish. I made this one for my daughter and am going to whip a few more to add to gifts that I am currently putting together for several children in my life!

Oh - and we actually got to use it for the first time as well! My daughter lost ANOTHER tooth and she made a beeline for her bag. I was expecting her to put it under her pillow, but she actually hung it on her inside door handle! Boy, the teeth fairy lucked out this time! No crawling under that heavy pillow with fingers crossed that the sleeping child won't wake up to catch her!!! 

Buy of the Week

I found this adorable insulated lunch tote (being modeled by my oldest daughter) at Christmas Tree Shops for $4! Whoa - what?!? Yes - only $4. I purchased it for my daughter for school this past weekend. I kicked myself for not grabbing myself one (and the shop is a 40 min drive). Well it turned out I needed to be in that area yesterday so stopped in and got myself one as well! I know these won't last long on those shelves - you better run out and grab yourself one!

TEACHER SURVIVAL KIT

As a follower of Little Birdie Secrets I see some great creative items come across my reader. With school starting, I wanted to give my daughters teacher a welcome back gift, and then Little Birdie Secrets posted this and I knew just what to do!

I turned the Schultüte into a Teacher Survival Kit.

I did mine all digitally, but you could totally do it the way it was done on Little Birdie Secrets and add a tag with the contents of your kit. My tag read:

TEACHER SURVIVAL KIT

I found this survival kit wording a while back and wrote it down because I thought it was sweet. I added the Chocolate Line - thought a nice little treat would be appreciated! There are so many other items you could add, just be a little creative.

We added this closing to the tag: Welcome Back {Teachers Name} and then put a heart with my daughters name.

Happy Mid-Week!

3 HAIR CHALLENGE: Beautiful Lengths - Hair Donation

I have made the decision to cut my hair... it is currently 22 inches from the crown of my head to the bottom of my longest layer. Little Miss Livie keeps grabbing handfuls, and I am shedding like crazy. So I decided to take the plunge and cut it (soon) and why not contribute to a good cause at the same time?

Your salon does not need to be a participant in any donation program. I found a perfect place to donate my hair: Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths is a program that provides free wigs to cancer patients around the nation. More information on the program as well as hair requirements and cut information can be found at their web site, http://www.beautifullengths.com/.


Here is my proposal: it takes 6-8 ponytails to create a wig. I would love to have 7 readers commit to growing their hair out (must have 8 inches of hair) and then having it cut and donated to the cause.

Once you commit (via comments below) - email a current picture of yourself to jkcmmd@gmail.com and I will post it on my blog along with the others who have committed. Once your hair is long enough and you get it cut, send me a picture of you with your new do and your ponytail in hand so everyone can see the fabulous new you! Why not do this as a group and guarantee that at least one person will receive a wig to help them in their moment of need?

Heck - lets see how many people we can get to commit to the cause! If I have any takers I will create a weekly post to update everyone on our progress!

I have not made my hair cut apointment yet - I want to grow it a few more inches before I do. I will keep you updated.

Happy growing/Happy cutting!

0 Flower Barrettes

I found a great ribbon flower at Little Birdie Secrets. It is really easy to make and thought it would make a perfect barrette. I made the flower and then sewed (can also be glued) to a barrette. Looks great in my daughters hair!

11 Time to hunt!

I made a bug card/tag that I tied onto the handle of the tote. My lil' guy loved the bug so much, he made his own, so I added that too. In the pocket I added a little card that had all of the contents of the Bug Hunting Kit spelled out. I purchased a small net and attached a key chain LED light for close inspection. I also purchased a composite notebook to act as his "Field Journal" for keeping track of his close encounters with the creepy crawlies. I found a cute little bug apron (looked like a moth) from, of all places, the dollar store! I also purchased a magnify glass and fake cockroaches there as well. I bought two different containers to hold his finds so that he can keep them contained as he inspects the *icky* little things. Lastly I found some butterfly fact puzzle cards that were a perfect activity to top it all off.

I was determined to do a fun gift for my nephews seventh birthday. I racked my brain trying to think of the perfect idea and finally... I GOT IT! A Bug Hunting Kit. What little boy doesn't like inspecting insects?

First I "made" (I actually bought a pre-made tote from Joann's and embellished it) a tote with his name on it and added a pocket out of a bug fabric. On the back I added a little bug that peeks out from behind when you carry the tote.

Very simple to do and cost under $20.

Happy Birthday and Happy Hunting Noah!

2 Trying my hand at applique

I just completed my first applique and am pretty satisfied with the way it came out:

I got the birdie template from amazing mae (I just thought it was adorable!). I already can see myself putting appliques on bags, bibs, onesies... so many things! Just another item in my arsenal for baby shower gift ideas!

This project was pretty simple to complete, and once you have the supplies it is affordable as well. I purchased the shirt for $4 from Target. I used felt for the bird and black embroidery thread for the legs and "Tweet"s. I used Wonder Under before sewing the bird on and used a light fusible interface for the inside of the shirt (so the knots wouldn't rub against my daughters skin). Look for more appliqued items from me in the future. I will probably try my hand at creating my own patterns as well (and if any of them turn out any good I will share with you guys!).

Happy appliqueing!

1 What are little boys made of? Weekly Round-Up #2

Welcome to the second edition of What are little boys made of? Weekly Round-Up! This week I have found some really cute projects that I think all your lil' ones will enjoy!

JUICE BOX BOATS

Perfect for the litle sailor in your life. This would be especially fun if you have a creek running near your home! Set them loose and see how far they sail. The tut for this can be found over at Inchmark. I just recently discovered this blog and have really enjoyed looking through all of her very creative ideas. I especially love their speech bubble thank you cards and have every intention of putting this idea to use! Sorry, got a little of track here, but trust me, you are going to love that blog!

BABY BOY PEE-PEE CONE

This is for all you mommies with a little boy at home. The name is just as it sounds - you put this handy little cone over your lil' ones privates as you change their diaper to prevent the dreaded spray action! The tut can be found at Little Birdie Secrets.

STUFFED BAG MONSTER

This is the PERFECT activity for your little monster!!! Check out the tut at No Time for Flashcards.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK for the next edition of WHAT ARE LITTLE BOYS MADE OF? WEEKLY ROUND-UP!

5 Next it'll be poker!

Mushu picture taken by www.michellechappel.net

1 Headband - Piece of Cake

As I was perusing the crafting blogs looking for ideas for new hair accessories for my daughter I came across this really simple and inexpensive yet fabulous headband at Chocolate on my Cranium and just had to share! This is so in right now and my daughter thanked me up and down for the one I whipped up in about 10 mins! I plan on making more very soon!

I may make one little change in the future and that would be to add some Sport Foam wrap (female athletes wear it a lot) to the underside of the ribbon to prevent any slippage... my daughter is VERY active and we always run into this issue! (UPDATE: Melissa over at nannygoat just posted a headband design of her own, and she used a thin line of hotglue on the underside of hers to keep it from slipping... great idea!)

Oh - and this isn't only for the little ones! I plan on making myself one as well!

Happy creating!

0 4Shared Account - Downloads Available

I have created a 4Shared account to make it easier to share items on this blog. From now on if I am posting something for others to use, I will include a link to 4shared for download.

You can download items from past postings here:

Daily Reminders Sheet
License Plate Game - No longer available
Monkey Head Embellishment - No longer available

All of the above are for personal use only.

Please leave some love if you download any of these freebies!

Catch the crafting bug!

0 Frogs and snails, and puppy dogs tails...

As I have stated in my profile, my mission is to contribute projects for the lil' guys in our lives that seem very hard to find. I have decided to do a weekly round-up of all the great ideas that I come across.

So without further ado, here is the first edition of "What are little boys made of? Weekly Round-Up"!

MILK CARTON DUMP TRUCK

What little boy wouldn't love to make (and play) with this adorable truck brought to us by Oragami Mommy? Click here for the tutorial.


CAR ACTIVITY PLAY MAT

I found several cute crafts over at Fiskars Crafts including this perfectly portable play mat and this Tic Tac Toe board for the older boys (and girls):

FELT TRAVEL BOARD

Although this is obviously a girly craft, I could easily envision this with cars and truck shapes that would keep your lil' guy busy during car trips, visits to the doctors office, restaurants, etc. You can find the tutorial here courtesy of Katie's Nesting Spot.

Happy Crafting!

0 Oldnavyweekly.com

My new obsession is oldnavyweekly.com. This site gets updated weekly with fabulous coupons such as $75 off $100 and $50 off $100 and many more. You have to hunt through the page to try to find where these have been hidden. The big ones go fast, so it is really a race to see if you can snag one (I was lucky enough to get a $50 off $100 this week).

They carry great clothes for the kiddos, very stylish, durable and priced right. I was able to get my son 4 pants, 4 long sleeved shirts, a hoodie and socks for $50 with the coupon!

In recent weeks they have also had a great feature where you can share the coupon with a friend (you get to keep yours AND send one to a friend on Facebook). How fabulous is that? Imagine your friends surprise at receiving a $50 off $100 coupon when they login to Facebook.

I must warn you it is very addicting, but well worth it.

Here is what I know - it appears that the site is updated on Thursday nights - it has been as early as 8pm EST (last week it started the reload at 11:27 and the site was up for hunting at about 11:45pm).

Happy Hunting!