TAMED!!!... A HEADBAND SOLUTION...

Lilley-Kate has "pretty much" said "good-bye" to her collection of bows... (although SOMETIMES I can coherce her into wearing one to accent a pony tail... hey... I'm holding onto those bows with BOTH HANDS... LOL)... we are QUICKLY acquiring quite a collection of HEADBANDS... and finding a STORAGE SOLUTION has been challenging at best...


Lilley-Kate had been keeping some of the headbands around her lamp on her dresser... the headbands were "wrangled"... easy to see and grab when getting dressed... and it WORKED... for a time (as the headband collection has grown... this method of storage has become more irritating than practical.. think HOT TANGLED HEADBAND MESS...LOL)... but we needed a more permanent and practical SOLUTION....





After looking around "blogland" (and eBay)... I decided to MAKE a HEADBAND HOLDER similar to a "classic" BOWHOLDER... easy peasy (lemon squeezie)... This isn't "my" original design... gotta give credit where credit is due!... I used what I had already here at the house (1 1/2" wide grosgrain ribbon)... and "whipped" up THIS headband holder in about 10 minutes!!!







Headbands corralled!!! Easy to SEE and GRAB when getting dressed... and NEATLY stored!!! I'll be making a couple more of these!!!... BUT I'm STILL holding onto those BOWS!!!

Passing on THE LOVE...

of SCARVES... once the temp dips below 50* here (yes... you read that right... to ME 50* is COLD) out come my scarves... Lilley-Kate has inherited my "love"... but finds all that FABULOUS length a bit hard to manage... so... she picked out some yarn... I crocheted it up (yes... I DO "craft")... and we made her a "baby scarf" (her term) or a "scarflet" (my term)...

Now she can easily manage putting it on (without having to wrap it numerous times around her neck) and just button it up!!!

SHE'S already decided she wants to pick out some more yarn so I can crochet (yes... once again I DO "craft") her some more... AND we've decided they would make good gifts too for some of her BESTIES!!!

I'm OBSESSED...

With the QUEEN ANNE'S LACE SCARF...

Learning Something New...

The paints arrived today in the mail... I was so excited to try them out... I've been watching tutorials on YOUTUBE all week... Lilley-Kate was estatic!!!

Easy Peasy...

We kinda did a "redecorating" of Lilley-Kate's room this Summer... Changed the WALL COLOR... from my FAVORITE Martha Stewart BUTTERCREAM to a FUN ART DECO PINK... went from a Cherry "theme"... to CANDY/Cabana STRIPE... (it was suppose to be SHABBY CHIC... but when Lk saw the stripes on a visit to "our" WALLIES I relented and changed direction)... I bought a few extra body pillowcases to do some "extras" with... ONE of them was a MEMORY BOARD for her room... She LOVES to have pictures in her room... so I thought this would be a FUN project...

I must say... seeing all the BEAUTIFUL Memory boards out in "blogland" that had been made was a bit intimidating... but I read (and reread... and REREAD again) a couple of tutorials and decided to plunge right in... and can I just say... "WHAT THE HECK WAS I AFRAID OF???!!!"... Not only was it SUPER EASY (thanks to some really good tutorials)... but I was able to "modify" my design (ok... I didn't have enough ribbon to do the criss crossy thing... so I used BIAS TAPE)... I have to admit... I LOVE THE RESULTS!!! I will DEFINITELY be making some more of these!!!

Most importantly... Lilley-Kate was THRILLED with it!!! :o)

Just a little "sidenote"... if you want to "know how" to make something ... just do a SEARCH for it... there are LOTS of GREAT TUTORIALS out there in blogland/on the web... I'll DEFINITELY be trying other things now!!!

Traveling... Against the Grain

LAST week I realized something SHOCKING... EASTER was a week EARLIER than I THOUGHT it was!!! So I have been scrambling (ok... actually probably dragging my feet) this whole week to "catch up" and be ready to "hit the road" tomorrow morning... the best laid plans...


I DID decorate my "all season tree" at the end of March... put out a couple of Easter decorations (thinking I was "on the ball")... I'm totally happy with how my tree turned out... I LOVE the tree topper (eggs bought at Hobby Lobby for .99 each)... and of course the POMPOM GARLAND that I originally saw HERE added to the whimsey of the whole thing...

I just couldn't let Easter "whiz by" without at least ATTEMPTING an Easter craft... yea... attempting would be the operative word... when I saw THESE on retromama I KNEW I wanted to try them... TOTALLY CUTE... so I did... spent Tuesday carefully cutting and sewing... ending up with 6 "round" eggs... Hmmmmmmmmm... THEN I ready PEGGY'S BLOG and saw that SHE made the EGGS... and they LOOKED LIKE EGGS... and realized I had not read the DIRECTIONS carefully... am thinking (actually more than thinking) I skipped over the whole "grain direction" thing... and THAT is why I have 6 "balls" instead of EGGS... *sigh* Lately... that has been the story of my life... not being "on the grain"...

So... we are off to "The Old Dominion" to celebrate Easter with my family... as "unprepared" as I am (feel)...

I hope EVERYONE has a WONDERFUL EASTER!!! Is it MONDAY yet????

Magazines and Mud...

I LOVE Decorating magazines... especially one's that practice "budget friendly" ideas... after visiting some VERY INSPIRATIONAL blogs I KNEW I'd have to pick up the latest issue of THIS magazine... and as PROMISED (by reviews of fellow bloggers) I was NOT disappointed!!! I think SEEING THIS project on WHAT'S NEW? has totally inspired me!


LOTS of fun Springy/Easter crafts in Blogland too!!! THESE are definitely on my TO DO LIST (for next year)... they'd be SUPER CUTE with ribbon hangers and hung along a mantel or on an all season tree!!! (Although I DID pick up the SUPER CUTE SHABBY cake stand in that post on my latest trip to TARGET!!!)

Two days of dry weather allowed Michael (with the "help" of Lilley-Kate) to square off and grade the ground for our new patio out back... My "Math Major" of a husband (yes... he DOES hold a Mathematics Major) "mismeasured" the area when ordering the bricks and had to call the place to order 60 more... so once the LimeStone is delivered things will start moving towards completeing THAT project... YIPEE!!!

We enjoyed a "nice" weather weekend... but seem to have "slipped back" into the old habit of CLOUDY, WINDY and COLD today... we're expecting SNOW overnight... WHERE is SPRING???

String... Strang... Strung...

I always LOVE visiting other blogs... LOTS of neat people doing SUPER NEAT and CRAFTY things... I have had THIS particular craft (from Artsy-Crafty Babe) saved to my favorites since around Christmas... and have spent the last few nights completing it...

I bought the PomPoms at the Dollar Store (I bought 10 bags)... and used COTTON CROCHET THREAD (I didn't have any upholstry thread around)... I used 6 bags of PomPoms and ended up with about 18'-20' worth of garland... it'll go on my "All Season Tree" during Spring/Easter... SUPER EASY (although I DID jab myself a couple of times with the needle... OUCH!)... and it gives me something productive to do while watching television in the evenings... I have plans to make MORE garlands in different color combos...

Thanks to everyone out there who inspires me!!! :o)

"Holiday" Crafting...

Today I had the opportunity to visit Lilley-Kate's class and spend some time with the kids making a "Holiday" craft... I needed something "easy" and "quick"... and these chenille stem candy canes fit the bill perfectly!!!

The kids had a fun time crafting... and we even "snuck in" some Christmas (I mean "Holiday") songs after we were done making the candycanes!!!

One FISH... Two FISH...

PINK fish... BLUE fish...

A while back I had seen the directions for these in my FAVORITE magazine... and decided they would be a FUN gift for my niece and nephew who will be turning ONE in November... they were SUPER EASY and QUICK... Lilley-Kate helped cut out the felt pieces and stuffed the bodies... I'm hoping they'll be a fun addition to their "softie" collection!

One Step Ahead...

RUSH on over to POSIE GETS COZY and PRE-ORDER Alicia's adorable felt Christmas ornaments kit!!!

I already ordered mine... what a nice "chilly weather craft" to have for the days ahead!!!

GO GO GO!!!

Addictively QUICK...

When MEG posted this EASY PEASY and SUPER QUICK tutorial (it's in the sidebar of her blog) I knew I had to give them a go... I used 7/8" button blanks and round magnets (that fit PERFECTLY on the back)... attached the magnets with E6000 (WOOOO... make sure you have PLENTY of ventilation because that stuff STINKS)... and within 10 minutes... WHALAH... SUPER CUTE MAGNETS!!!


These would make a GREAT teachers gift done in a school days theme... hostess gift... or party favors for a luncheon... They are so quick and addictive... I've already bought the button blanks in a couple of different sizes to make more!!!!

Crafting Together...

Saturday I decided that Lilley-Kate and I would have a "craft day" together... I had purchased Stepping Stone kits earlier in the season and thought it would be the perfect "before school starts" project... I set up a table in the shade under our big tree out back... and got to crafting...

I was able to "drag" Michael out of the garage... he's working on another "secret project" (could I be getting ANOTHER CUTE PATIO TABLE???)... to do the "dirty work" and mix the mortar...

And pour it into the molds for us... he's such a GREAT DADDY... after which he promptly disappeared back into the garage... and left us girls to our crafting...

We had LOTS of colorful glass bits to work with... the sun was shining through the trees on the glass and Lilley-Kate couldn't make up her mind which color was her favorite...

A butterfly stepping stone for Lilley-Kate... her favorite... and a flower for me... as we were setting the stones we listened to music and chatted about being in FIRST GRADE (she's VERY EXCITED)... favorite FLOWERS (Daisies for both of us)... BIRDS (her's CARDINAL, mine Chickadee)... FAVORITE FOODS (her's Mac and Cheese, mine pizza)... FAVORITE COLORS (her's Pink and sometimes purple, mine pink and sometimes red)... BALLET (she LOVES it)... come to think of it... we chatted about almost everything... and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT...

It was a fun afternoon spent with my FAVORITE GIRL...

Tent Time...

When I saw this FUN Tent Tutorial I KNEW Lilley-Kate would LOVE to have one of her own... So Friday Night Michael and I got the canvas cut and ready for stamping on Saturday morning...

I bought compressed sponges and we cut out some favorite shapes to stamp with (butterflies, flowers, hearts, ladybugs and polka dots) and we spent most of Saturday morning stamping the canvas out on our driveway... It dried pretty quickly with the sun out...

Michael had never "grommeted" before... I think he has found a new hobby! He followed the placement measurements in the tutorial and the directions (which I INSISTED he read) on the back of the package...

Then we set up the bamboo poles in the back yard... Lilley-Kate started to get excited at this point once the tent took "shape"...

Michael then fit the stamped canvas over the bamboo poles and laced up the front (and happened to mention like 50 times how fabulous the grommet work looked... yes Michael... you did a GOOD JOB)...

I added "streamers" as suggested in the tutorial... which Lilley-Kate LOVED... and TAH-DAH... Lilley-Kate's Tent was done!

The Tent was a fun project... and the tutorial (which we referred to NUMEROUS TIMES) came in handy... I/We would DEFINITELY recommend this project!!!

***Michael wanted me to mention that the measurements for cutting the half-circle won't give you an "exact square" and that you will have to fandangle the folding part at the BOTTOM before cutting... "square" the top point and cut the smaller half -circle and then "square" the bottom point and cut the bigger half circle... OH... And I'm suppose to mention too that the GROMMETING was a breeze... LOL***