10 minute fix--tutorial

**If you want to enter the Splendid Jewelry GIVEAWAY....scroll down to the next post to see how!**



My sweet and innocent little ANGEL is getting so big! Wait a sec......
Ah, yes! Here is a more "angelic" pic of her. As I was saying, she is weeks away from moving into a new room with her big sister.
Here is the bed she will soon be sleeping in. Notice anything off about this bed? Well, it is currently the place where we store all of their stuffed animals. I have actually gotten rid of quite a few, but these are the more sentimental ones that we cant bear to part with....yet.
So hubby and I decided to search for one of those stuffed animal nets, and after spending a whole day asking everyone at all the stores we ventured to, we lost hope. Then I thought, why not make one? The major upside: it's free! So I got some jersey knit that I had from an old moby wrap I made and cut a big triangle (sorry, no pics of my misshapen triangle). Does the triangle have to be absolutely even, and measure the same length on all sides??? ABSOLUTELY....not. You can make it as big or small as you need and you can choose how far apart you want to hang it when your done. The best part about using jersey knit is...no hemming (since it wont fray) and it stretches (so you can fit quite a bit in a little space).
Anyway, after my triangle, I cut 3 strips of knit about 1 inch wide and 11 inches long. You can adjust the measurements if you prefer to have short straps. I then folded the strips in half and did a zigzag stitch down it. I mostly did this to make it look a little better and be a little more durable.
Next, I took the strips to each corner and folded the corner down like I was going to hem it.
Fold the corner once more....
and then move the strip back to the outside. Pin in place so you can stitch it together.
Sew two lines across the top and bottom of the hem. Folding it over and stitching it this way is also another way to make it look better and be a little more durable. :) Can't beat that with little monkeys running around.
This is what you will then have at all three corners:
Now it's time to hang it up! I used these handy little guys that came out of my tool pouch. Yes, my tool pouch...it's pink and purple :)
I then put all the animals in it and decided to tie some ribbon, that I had a ton of, to the ends to make it look a little more girly since my knit was blue.
This is literally a 10 minute project (provided your children are asleep or amused by something).
Or maybe you should just have them make their bed so they can jump on it the whole time.
Happy crafting!!

Jewelry from *Splendid Jewelry* and GIVEAWAY!

I just have to post about my friend Mae and her jewelry. It is so gorgeous, simple, trendy, and EXTREMELY well priced. She just opened up an etsy shop:

Splendid Jewelry

She also has a blog that she just started. I would follow and keep an eye out, because once she's gotten everything set up...you might find a coupon code or two there.

**Update: Mae is having a giveaway on facebook!! Go here, and like her jewelry. You can then look at pics of her amazing jewelry. All you have to do is post on her wall what kind of jewelry you would like for Valentines Day! Win it for you or someone else. The drawing will be on Feb. 5th!**

That's my Girl!

Today, my bedroom floor looked like this:
And it wasn't because of me! With my love of sewing, I thought it would be fun to introduce some of that love to my girls. Sadie has had a bag of her own fabric scraps that I let her use for various projects, but I wanted to do more with her today. I gave her a box and also put pieces of ribbon and some of my extra buttons in it. She was soooo EXCITED!
Then I made these little guys that look like gingerbread men (at least that is what she first called them). She got to choose whether they were girls or boys and dress them however she wanted.
I have given my girls many opportunities to be creative, but sometimes I find it hard to keep up with them. Sadie loves crafting and I love letting her do whatever she wants. I may take a lot of pictures, but I don't disturb her. Her creations are hers alone. Can you see my little corner of the universe back there? I am so proud of it that I hope to take pictures of it soon.
I must say....I was pretty impressed with the thought she put into everything for only being 3 (well, soon to be 4).
She used a lot of buttons, but trust me.....I have A LOT! I can definitely spare a few :)
I got out her markers so that she could give them hair and whatever else she wanted.
She gave them names, and decided that Sadie and Kelsey needed to have rings on their fingers...I love them. And yes, I cut out the skirt. This was the only thing I did, because I was trying to show her what the little dolls were for.
I wasn't quite sure what the notebook was for, so I asked her. She was using it to decide their names.
And here are the finished little people:
The boy named "Daddy" is a musician with long black hair. This looks and sounds nothing like her own Daddy, but she insisted that his name was Daddy. ....strange little girl. haha
And after she finished everything else, she noticed that Kelsey and Sadie were half naked and put a long skirt and a shirt on these two. I love my girls and I love all the amazing things they can do. I'm so blessed to be a mom.

Chore Chart for the Little Ones

Ever feel like your toddlers need to learn a thing or two about a hard days work??? I know, they are little, but sometimes (when you have more than one especially) you could really use their help around the house. I made this chore chart for my little Sadie who is 3 and I'm sure her sister will be using it soon!

How does it work? Well, first you'll want to get some images online or through clip art. I just googled "chore chart pictures" and found mine. I did my chart awhile ago and couldn't find the exact ones, but there are some great ones HERE and HERE. The idea is to give her many opportunities to do something helpful, when she does, she can put a star where it belongs and at the end of the week....we count up the stars. The more stars she gets, the better her reward.
Anyway, continuing on... I got a regular sheet of white card stock and measured out how many chores I wanted and for how many days. I colored my little pictures, cut them out, and glued them on each Chore space with words to label them.

I labeled the days of the week and the title of my Chart with the saying, "I will help my family" in the corner. I laminated the whole sheet (I did this at our local office store) and then got sticky-back velcro (from Wal-mart) to stick on every square.
I then cut out some little stars (although you can use any image you want!) and laminated them as well. I put the other side of the velcro on the back of the stars.

All the stars are in a baggy and when she chooses to do one, or does so when asked (not begged), she can get a star from the bag and put it where it goes on the chart! She loves it!! I hope it works out great for you too :D

One more thing! We wanted her rewards to not by monetary or all bribes of junk food, so we chose rewards that were perfect for our family.

**Need some reward ideas?**
ice cream night
you pick the movie
camp out in the living room
board game night
game night (Simon says or Duck, duck, goose)
family walk/bike ride
bake cookies with Mom
Jeep ride with Daddy

Is Halloween Over?

I don't know about any of you, but I really procrastinated this year! We were supposed to go Friday night to our church's Trunk or Treat, so I was sewing away Friday afternoon. My little Sadie wanted to be Belle--"IN THE BLUE DRESS"!
She actually went to the Trunk or Treat with no zipper on the back of her dress. It was held on with 4 safety pins. I amaze myself sometimes....luckily it was done for Halloween and she was happy.
As for my Kelsey, she went as Dorothy, and her Grandma had the costume in her dress up bin for the girls. Poor Kelsey was sick for the Trunk or Treat and she didn't want to stay in her costume on Halloween, so this is one of the only pics we have of her. I think we will have to dress her up again :D

Hope you had a great Halloween! It is one of my favorite holidays....nothing but family activities galore!