Easter Decor I Should've Made

Let me just start off  by saying that I had very good intentions of decorating for Easter.  I really did.  You see, I am not a good multi-tasker.  There I said it.  I am more of start one thing, finish it, start another thing kind of girl.  Because of this, I was focused on vacation and Spring Break.  Since Spring Break, I have been dealing with stuff at school, working at school, getting ready for Benchmark tests, IEP meetings at school, field trips, etc.  I haven't had any spare time to get ANY Easter decor going. 

I thought having all the kids in school would free up so much time to be crafty, blog more, have some "me" time, etc.  Well, it seems the opposite thing happened.  I work several days a week and spend the rest of my time desperately trying to play catch up.  That leaves very little time to be crafty, work out (hence the size of my rear end), or blog.  I hate that.  There just aren't enough hours in the day.

So, because I didn't get much cute Easter stuff done, I decided to make a list, with photos, of the stuff I would have done had I had the time.  I would like to start out with the ONE Easter crafty something from last year that I put back out this year. 

My Hanging Burlap Carrots

Yep, that's pretty much all of my Easter decor.  So, this is what I wish I would have made:

Isn't that cute?  I found it on Pinterest, but it wouldn't take me to a link and I couldn't make out the link on the bottom.  If it's yours, let me know.  I'd love to give you credit.

CUTE!  Also found this on Pinterest, but the link took me to some weight loss website.  RUDE!  Think someone is trying to tell me something? 

Aren't these decopauged eggs cute???  Love them.  These were made by Brown Paper Packages.  You can find the how-to post here.

My friend Debbie at Words on Wheels gave the decopauge eggs a try.  Hers are super cute. 

See her blog post here.

I probably would've ended up tossing them across the room in frustration though.  I don't have much patience when stuff is sticking to my fingers.  ugh! 

One more thing that I just love is this He Is Risen cross.  It was made by Lauren at Crafty Couture and it is just PRECIOUS!  Polka dots, burlap and the words "He is Risen".  It just doesn't get any better than that!

Isn't that the cutest???  You can find Lauren's blog here.

Well, I guess that's about it for the shoulda, coulda, woulda Easter blog post.  I hate I didn't get much done in the way of decor, but at least I finished E's Easter dress.  It's made out of this:

Have a great Easter weekend!

My Kid Is Outcrafting Me!

So, I know I may have talked a little about my crafty daughter before, but now she is just putting me to shame.  I've been a little, shall we say, unproductive lately.  She, on the other hand, is on some sort of manic crafty high lately.  If she is not doing homework, she is doing something crafty.  She is repurposing all kind of stuff to make other stuff.  That kids is the ultimate green crafter. 

I think she has recovered just about every box we have in the house.  Know what she has in those boxes?  Craft suppies, of course, and journals that she has made.  (Please ignore the black Sharpie marker she got all over her desk.  ugh!)

The one on the left she made out of an old High School Musical game board, scrapbook paper, duct tape, recycled paper and somehow she made it dry erase on the cover.  The one on the left, she made out of the same game board and the inside pages are made of a box of Thank You cards and envelopes. 

Can you tell the pages are envelopes? 

Then there is this:

She painted a ready made cup and made the removable top and out of clay.  Isn't that the cutest?

Seriously, this kid is making me look bad!  She amazes me with her creations.  It's like my creative gene quadrupled when it got to her.  Alright, I'll quit bragging on my kid now. 

Have a great Tuesday!!

Getting Ready for Christmas Already

Well, I saw my first Hallmark Christmas commercial this morning.  Let the tears begin.  Christmas is less than two months away.  Time flies!  My week has been filled with preparing for our school's annual silent auction.  Each class is responsible for making a themed basket.  I am room mother, so I was in charge of making our basket.  Our theme this year....CHOCOLATE!  MMMMM!  So, I collected money from parents went shopping and begged for a few donations from local businesses.  I even made a small kitchen towel for the basket. 

Why zebra in a chocolate basket?  Well, I was looking for a big beverage tub to put everything in, but I couldn't find one big enough that wasn't a TON of $$.  So, I went to Gordman's where I found a big basket with a zebra liner.  So, our theme became "Wild About Chocolate", and therefore the zebra towel.  I also found a green giraffe insulated cup.  I secretly wanted it for myself.  I gotta go back and get me one of those.  So cute!


This is what it looked like:

Also this week, I've been preparing for a craft show this weekend.  I've been crazy busy trying to get some things sewn up and watching over the new puppies.  I'll let ya know how it goes and I'm hoping to have a new tutorial up next week.  See ya then!  Gotta get back to sewing.

Well, My Husband Loves Me Again!

Okay, so he never actually stopped loving me, but let's just say that there was a source of contention in our marriage.  Any guesses?  Nope, not money.  We don't have any of that to fight over.  Not the kids, unless we happened to be fussing on whose turn it is to brush their teeth (I hate to brush teeth).  Nope, our fight always involved this:

Nice, huh?  Okay, so it wasn't really a fight, but more of a minor annoyance.  Hubby HATES it when I hang my plastic grocery bags on the pantry door.  It drives him NUTS!  So, HE decided to put them in the laundry room.

Ummmmmm, nope!  That's annoying to ME!  I can't even get to my dryer buttons and I have more bags piled on top of my dryer.  UGH!  Okay, so something HAD to be done.  I've been telling Hubby I'd get one of those grocery bag storage hanging thingees (yes, that is the official name), but I kept forgetting to look for one when I went to the store.  BUT, I knew I could make one anyway.  I just haven't had time to get to it, until today.

I kind of winged it with mine using scrap fabric from my stash, but I did find a great tutorial here if you want to make your own. 

So, I didn't really have a problem with hanging the bags on the pantry door, but I must admit that it is much easier to open and close the door now.  I'm just glad Hubby is happy.  You know what they say, "If Papa is happy, maybe he'll give mama a night off from brushing the kids teeth".  That's how the saying goes, right?  No?  Y'all don't say that?  Okay.  Maybe it's just me. 

Just a Little Treat for the Teachers in Our Life

I had plans to get this project done early in the week, but I got sick so my plans flew right out the window.  Here's the scoop:  I'm southern and I'm Baptist, which means that if I love you...I feed you.  So, for Teacher Appreciation Day, I made The Best Cinammon Rolls EVER!  I made little tags and packaged them like this

Here is a closer look at the tags

My tags weren't perfect, but I thought they were kind of cute.  Of course, they had to be aqua and red.  I would've shared them, but I'm not smart enough to know how to post them.  I only know how to email them as an attachment.  Oh well.  It's a little late anyway.

Have a great weekend!

Ruffles in the Kitchen

So, y'all know about my obsession with kitchen towels, right?  I loooove them.  My SIL got me these for Christmas.  They are so cute!  BUT, I only put them out when I have company because I want to keep them pretty.

 I've made a bunch of applique towels, mostly as gifts.  You see, my gluten-free/casein-free child drinks a lot of chocolate Silk.  He spills A LOT and Silk doesn't come out....EVAH!  Once it's on there, it's on there.   He's completely ruined my Williams Sonoma kitchen towels.  I'm glad he cleans up after himself, but gosh I'm tired of chocolate stained towels.  So, after I mentioned in a previous post that this is why I never keep and display my pretty towels, Richella and Suzanne mentioned I should make some for myself that could be bleached.  Well, duh!  Why didn't I think of that?  So, being the go-getter that I am, I got right on it put it off for a few months before finally getting to it last week. 

So, my original inspiration came from Sausha's shower curtain. 

Isn't it gorgeous and flowy and airy and pretty?  You can find Sausha's post here.  Anywy, I used ready made flour sack towels to make mine.  I cut one of them in strips to make the ruffles.  The ruffles are not hemmed so they will fray.  I love that! 

Look at those ruffles!

Rows and rows of ruffles.  Ahhhh!

Love!  But, I'm still not sure if I'm keeping it.  Hmmmm.  Can't decide. 

I'm linking to Frugalicious Friday @ Finding Fabulous, Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge, Flaunt in Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating, Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest and I'm Flaunting my Feathers @ A Lovely Place to Land. 

*I apoligize for my lack of button display.  Blogger is acting up and giving me fits about buttons today!

Hanging Carrots for Easter

I have never been one of those people who decorates for every. single. holiday.  Why?  Well, my house needs a lot of "any season" decor, so I usually devote what little time I have to everyday crafty decor, not something that will only be out for a month or maybe two.  BUT, I have seen soooo many cute and crafty Easter things that I just couldn't help myself.  I have seen several versions of the big carrots hanging on the door.  I have seen them made out of orange napkins and out of knee highs.  I THOUGHT I had them bookmarked so I could give credit to those creative ladies, but apparently I lost them.  So, if they were your projects, let me know and I'll give you credit. 

Anyway, I knew I had to recreate this cute Easter craft, but I thought I would do mine in burlap.  So, I took down my slightly wilted burlap wreath I made last year and got started on my carrots. 

I bought my burlap at Wal-Mart for $2.67 a yard and didn't even use the whole yard.  I started by cutting a cone shape on the fold of my burlap - about 18" long. 

Then I pinned and sewed up the open side of the cone shape, stopping about 6" from the top of the cone. 

Then I turned them inside out and stuffed them with Poly-fil.  Also, I frayed the ends of the burlap by taking out some of the cross-threads.  Time to paint.

I gave them a rough coat of paint with a sponge.  I painted the top part, where the stitching stops, inside and out in green.  I love the rough look of the paint on burlap.  So shabby! 

I made a huge mess!

Then, I used an old hairband to bind the top of my carrot. 

I cut 1 1/2" - 2" strips at the top to fold down over the hairband to look like the leafty party. 

I wrapped a strip of burlap around and tied in a knot at the front. 

In the back, I made a loop of the same burlap and made a loop in the back for hanging.  I just wrapped wire twisty-tie to make the loop on the back.

and hung it up by the loop on my wreath hanger. 

So, what do you think?  I think it's pretty cute for about $2.

I'm linking this project at the following parties:  Easter Link Party @ Centsational Girl