Mother's Day Coloring Sheet!

I love giving my Mother's a homemade card for their special day aka Mother's Day! Now that my little bug is older he is able to make it for them. Here is a coloring sheet so your little one can color their own. Click here.

~CJ

Fabric Lables

I have been a crafting maniac right now! As you may or may not know I'm preparing for my first craft fair that will be taking place in November. Seems like forever far away, but I think it will creep up on me before I know it. It is a small show that is at The Fountain of the Sun Retirement Center. Sounds weird doing a show at a Retirement Center, but I figure they have to shop for Grandkids right? So I am selling kids stuff. Hopefully it does well.

To make me seem more legit I decided to give labels on my projects a whirl. I googled DIY fabric labels and there are tons of tutorials I'm not going to go through the process with you. Basically you just put fabric on Freezer paper and run it through your printer. 

I got one of mine wet to see if it will hold up through a wash, but really I don't think many people will be washing my products. So anyways this is how mine turned out...

Does it look familiar? That is my water mark I use on all my pictures! It's so exciting because it cost next to nothing!

And in case you are wondering what I'm making here is the final product... A car seat cooler! This is the one I made for my Niece Leah!

Want one for your self? I am pre selling them since it is HOT outside (atleast in AZ it is). If you would like one contact me craftsbycjg@gmail.com. For now it will be local orders only. Sorry.

I would LOVE feedback on this! I am going to be asking for a lot of opinions in the next several months. Between pricing, display ideas, and settling some nerves I need your help!

~CJ

10 easy Valentine's Day Ideas

My little bug isn't in school yet so Valentines aren't really needed. However, I thought it would be fun to have him give something to his cousins. Plus I teach a primary class in church that I would like to give a little something to so they will like me... So here are some ideas that I have come across that I LOVE!

What got me thinking about it was I saw these bubble gum party favors at Sams Club today for $10. They also had just fun colorful ones that weren't valentinesy. If I didn't already have the favors for my bugs upcaoming Birthday Party I would have gotten those. $.41 a piece, what a deal!

samsclub.com

These recycled crayons are so much fun. These are one of the first things I ever pinned and I'm so glad I did. I love the no candy idea.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61951289@N08/5672821563/sizes/l/in/photostream/

This next one is perfect for school age kids. When I was in school I was always losing pencils

http://indulgy.com/post/exx28Vs6E1/love-this-diy-valentines-day-gift-idea-all-yo

Valentines don't have to cost much. Here is an almost free idea. However, I'm a little nervous about taking all those paint chips.


http://www.babyalerts.ca/valentines-day-diy-projects-kids/

I'm thinking of making the grandma's a photo bookmark or my little bug.

I love this boy valentine! Feb 14th is such a girly holiday. What boy wouldn't love this?

http://www.jacolynmurphy.com/2012/01/for-valentinesall-is-fair-in-love-and.html

How cute would these be to throw in your child's/ hubbys lunch? So fun!

http://www.coolmompicks.com/2012/02/last_minute_valentines_ideas.php

These ones can be done with staples or a sewing machine. Love that you could buy candy in bulk and divid between gifts.

http://irinascutebox.blogspot.com/2012/02/valentines-day-gift-idea.html

This brings me to a side note, can kids even hand out candy not package from the store? When I was a kid we would just buy a big bag of conversation hearts and put like 5 in each card. I think that is a no-no now right? So I guess the one above would be for non school kids.

I love this idea, maybe it doesn't fit into the easy category because it would be time consuming to make all the slits.

http://24-7-365.blogspot.com/2009/02/lavish-me-with-praise.html

Another sucker one. Seems easy especially if you had a cricut to help you. She does include a template.

http://www.quietfish.com/notebook/?p=3109

And last, but not least Fortune cookies. I think older kids would have a fun time coming up with the different fortunes to go inside.

http://celesterockwood-jones.typepad.com/designwashrinserepeat/2009/02/freebie-fortune.html

Valentines Day is in a month from tomorrow! Do you know what you are going to do yet? Now to get ideas on what to give to the Hubs!

~CJ

Hair Bow Holder

Here is the before, I got the frame at Goodwill on their Dollar Thursdays so yep the frame cost me $1! The picture is horrible, but the frame was fine...

BEFORE

I tried to match the colors of the room. Hopefully I did ok. The first thing I did was spray painted the frame. I did about 3 coats. The spray paint cost $2-$3 I think.

Next I hot glued the ribbons on. I wanted to make it a little unique so I did the ribbons diagonal instead of Horizontal of verticle as I have always seen with these. It was hard to get them tight because I tried gluing to the inside of the frame instead of the back because in my mind it would look better against the wall. (It will make more sense in the next picture... hopefully) I tied a bow out of a piece of tulle and hot glued it to the bottom. It adds a nice touch I think.

AFTER

See the ends of the ribbon? They are on the lip where the backing of the frame would sit instead of just the back. Not sure how it would turn out just doing the back.

I then hammered on some saw tooth hooks so it could be hung up. These are like $.97 at Wal-Mart for a pack of 5.




Total cost= $5 tops The ribbons I already had and the flower clips I made awhile ago. Not a bad project!


~CJ

Candy Bar Boquet

***OLD POST

Are you still needing a gift for your sweetheart for tomorrow? It's not too late, this project only took about 15 minutes once I had all the stuff gathered.

When Valentine's Day first started appearing at the store I noticed this candy bar bouquet. It looked like a fun gift for a guy. Immediately I thought I could so make that! So I took another challenge, could I make one cheaper than what they sell them for??? I decided to make one for the hubs!

 This one was at Fry's. It came with a vase, Dove chocolates, 3 Hershey candy bars and one of those $1 box of chocolates that aren't really any good. (personal opinion). Then of course the cellophane and ribbons... This particular one was selling for $16.99.

So I set out to make mine... I gathered all of my supplies. Most of it I already had on hand I just needed the candy and the foam to stick it into.

 You will need:

Vase

Skewers

tissue paper or cellophane (I only had tissue paper on hand)

tape

foam (I bought it from DollarTree)

Your filler I used the Crunch heart shaped chocolates.

Candy Bars I decided to use 6- Crunch, Kit Kat, Heath, Almond Joy, Hershey Almonds, and 100 Grand

Ribbon or tulle

First fill your vase with your filler. I didn't even use an entire bag.

 

Then tape your skewers to the candy bars. I was first rolling the tape and sticking it on with the stick in between, but later they would fall off so I would recommend just putting the tape on the normal way.

 Then get your form. I never realized how messy these were.... then stick your candy bars in. I laid it down because it wouldn't stand up straight.

 Wrap your form with tissue paper and stick into vase... Tie with ribbon or tulle.

Then add your own personal message

Now for the price match up. I think it might be close...

Frys to buy it was $16.99.

For me to make mine cost was...

candy bars- $3.75

filler candy- $3 have some left

foam form- $.50

Total= $7.25

However that was because I had a majority of the stuff, If I were to buy everything estimated cost would be...

Vase- $3 (cheap ones from Walmart)

Skewers- $1 for a pack of 100

Candy filler $3

Candy bars $3.75

Tape $1

Tissue Paper $1

Total= $12.75 

You would still spend less AND have stuff left over. Sounds like another win to me! I understand that when buying from stores you are also paying for the employee to assemble it together for you, but seriously this took very little time. 

So if you have a craft closet like mine you could make out with a nice gift for your valentine for under $8. Are it is more customized because you can choose his favorite candy! This would be perfect for any gift giving holiday or just because. Men love surprises too, almost as much as chocolate:) Or maybe I'm thinking of me...

I've also seen these with different snack items that would be fun also. Do you have any out of the ordinary bouquet ideas? One of these days I'm attempting a fruit bouquet.

~CJ