eyelet trim belt

ok this was fun, easy, and very inexpensive,

and adds such a pretty little touch to any outfit.

 

look how cute!

i went to goodwill and found two belts for $2.99

then hit up joann's for some eyelet trim.

glued some eyelet trim to the back of the belt with a gluegun...

 

tried them right on!

love it!

earlier i was wearing this shirt with a cream carnigan and had the belt over the carnigan...but the sun came out so i took it off.

you don't need much:

these belts are too cute!

i have been planning in my head all day of what outfits i can wear them with!

a heck of a day...

it took me two of these to get through the day...

(yes that is a spoonful of peanut butter rolled in chocolate chips)

heaven help me :)

a flower in my hair

i wore this flower in my hair today...

i originally made it to go on a pillow...but it looked too cute in my hair!

it felt almost like i was wearing  a vintage hat.

i loved it.

i have never gotten so many compliments in one day...

then my mind started racing with all the colors i needed to have these in...all the places i could wear them...

i went to target and bought these two hats...and yes i did...

i sewed one of these flowers onto each of them...

i was happy about it :o)

yes i know, you need these in your life!

here's how:

after the first part of the flower is finished...put some pins in the back to hold it together.

then start with the second wider strip you have leftover and repeat the steps above.

then hand sew it together. 

i started in the middle.

hide your stitches.

when i hand sew i work mostly from the back...this helps hide those stitches.

 

then your done!

i am obsessed with making these right now!

wait till your husbands are nice and asleep...then sneak down and start crafting.

my husband has no idea what goes on in my nightlife.

i need a name for these flowers!

any ideas???

 

see this guy? that's my husband.

all he wanted for his birthday was "a weekend away with just our family..."

so we headed to the oregon coast for a weekend of camping.

you never know what kind of weather you are going to get at the oregon coast.

the oregon coast stumps even the best of weathermen.

but this time we were lucky....

the weather was so fantastically perfect i had to roll up my jeans!

man is that kid cute!

my husband and trey boy skimmed...

and we fished in the bay.

we have no clue what kind of bottom dwelling fish this was...we threw him little guy right back where he came from!

we hung out at our campsite.

ok i just have to ask...

should a 4 year old know how to hold out the camera and take pictures of herself like this?

seriously who does she think she is???  how old does she think she is???

she posed me for this photo...

we used those giant marshmallows...

to make these ginormous smores.

we didn't have a birthday cake for my husband but i experimented and made him a birthday treat:

 i took a pillsbury biscuit dough and roll it out

added some peanut butter

chocolate

and marshmallow

then folded the dough like kind of like an empanada and placed it on some tinfoil coated in olive oil

wrapped it up and placed it on some hot coals.

then i turned it about once a minute, then took it off after a few minutes to check and see if it was done.

it tasted fantastic, inside was a peanut buttery, chocolaty, marshmallowy goodness, and my husband really loved it!

(i have to thank my sister-in-law's boyfriend dennis for a similar idea he gave me at our 4th of july campout this year.)

besides the fact that i had 3 smores...it was a successful weekend!

my husband said it was his best birthday yet!

one week down...

we started homeschool this week...

this morning i was getting ready in the bathroom, when i heard a little knock on the door...

"is that you trey?"

"yes lucy is still asleep, i am going to take a shower, let's get started with school before she wakes up!"

"trey that is a great idea!"

you see, little miss sassy pants lucy's school only takes about a half hour...so when she finishes before trey she just wreaks all kinds of havoc. 

this is about how it goes:

"mom i'm done what next?"

"lucy i am helping trey right now you need to raise your hand thank you."

"mom i'm raising my hand!"

"mom do you see my hand!"

"MOM I AM DONE WHAT NEXT I AM RAISING MY HAND DO YOU SEE MY HAND MOM!!??"

yes it is just wonderful. 

so trey and i have caught on to the fact that if we get an early start with school, lucy will wake up and meld right into what we are doing when we are halfway done, and it works out a lot better.

so here we are while lucy is still sleeping eating some cereal.

we set up my camera and had a little fun with it....

if you look closely you can see what kind mother i am by the fact that i have my hand on the back of my sons neck holding him up so he has to be in the picture...oh and a firm grip on his arm as well.  ha!

"eat your cereal boy and get up and practice your reading!"

anyway, whether you are homeschooling or sending your child off on the bus, i hope you are having a heck of a time doing it!

ribbon embellished tee

I saw this tee the other day.

I loved the idea but not the price tag or the color for that matter.

So I decided to make my own!

As soon as this super cute tee was finished I ran upstairs and put it on!

Come along and I'll show you how.

You will just need a:

t-shirt ( I got mine at Anne Taylor Loft for $9.99...they are the best tees!)

ribbon

thread matching the ribbon

First Cut:

18 - 4 1/2 inch ribbons
19 - 3 1/2 ribbons

Fold them in half and iron them.

Then singe the ends of each ribbon with lighter or a match.  

This way the ribbon won't fray.

You will pin 4 rows of ribbon to your shirt:

First Row Starting with a Short Ribbon:  7 shorter Ribbons & 6 longer Ribbons

Second Row Starting with a Short Ribbon: 7 shorter Ribbons & 6 longer Ribbons

Third Row Starting with a long Ribbon :  3 longer Ribbons & 3 shorter Ribbons

Fourth Row Starting with a long Ribbon:  3 longer Ribbons & 2 shorter ribbons

For the First row:

Start with a shorter ribbon and pin it to the middle of the shirt at the neck then work your way to the left and then the right, alternating short and long ribbons.  You will be sewing these on 1/8 of an inch from the edge of the ribbon...pin them so that seam ends up being right at the seam on the neck.

Point the ribbons up.

For the Second row:

Do the same thing starting in the middle with a shorter ribbon 3/4 of an inch down from the First row.

Pin the ribbons pointing down.

For the Third row:

Do the same thing starting in the middle with a Long ribbon 1 1/2 inches from the Second row.

Fo the Fourth row:

Do ths same thing starting in the middle with a long ribbon 3/4 of an inch from the Third row.

Next stitch the Second, Third, and Fourth rows down.
Sew them 1/8 of an inch from the edge of the ribbon.

Here are they are sewn.

Just the top row left to do!

Sew the top row down 1/8 of an inch from the edge of the ribbon.

It will look like this.

Now pin them down.

Note-when you pin them down make sure the top of the ribbon at the neck bumps right up against the neck seam of the shirt.

Then stitch the ribbons down at 1/8 of an inch from the top of the ribbon.

It will look like this when you are done.

I hadn't sewn in awhile so this project was really fun for me to do!
I cut and ironed the ribbons one night and then one morning did all the sewing.

Today Trey called me "A craft lovin' Mama."

Trey buddy you know me well...you know me well.

Now get out there all you "craft lovin' mamas" and make you some Ribbon Embellished Tees!