LIfe of a blogger

Well, I knew this has been coming, but I think I have been in denial a bit until this week. Life kinda took me away from blogging this week and I think it will more in the future as well. I'll still be here, but not daily. Hoping a couple days a week at least still, but I have decided that I don't want my younger two to only remember me on the computer and doing orders for etsy as they grow up. I want them to remember me spending time with them, being present in their lives, and that is the season I am in right now. Love to create still and will continue, just might not get to share it quite as often as before.

Anyway, I DID however totally organize my craft "room" (closet) and label it and will share it with you next week!!! Exciting for me!

Have a great weekend!

Park vs. Blogging

Well, today I was faced with the following dilema: getting out of the house for a bit and taking my girls to have lunch at the park with some desparately needed attention for them and time for me...OR...blogging and folding laundry at home. Well, honestly in the past year, the latter has usually won, but not today! Yeah for crazy windy park days!

Meanwhile, check out this yummy recipe that Lil' Luna shared today on her blog. They look sooo good! You can find her recipe here. 

Happy Weekend!

Crafts by a Kid

In my family, my kids draw names with their cousins each year for Christmas and gift giving. Well, my 7 year old niece had requested a "kit" to make vinyl crafts with. What a fun idea! Don't ask me why I hadn't thought of doing this before for my own daughter!!! She would love it!

So, I put together a few projects for her and gave her the supplies she would need to make something (example: wooden blocks, sandpaper, paint, and vinyl)

I was so excited to get this picture from her and her mom with one of the finished projects!

She did great! I Love it! And so glad she did too!

Lentil Stew (that my kids EAT!)

I don't know about you, but my kids are not always the best judge of food I serve. ha! BUT I was happy to see that ALMOST all of them ate this recipe up the other night!

Lentil Stew! I grew up with my mom serving it and I personally LOVE it, but for some odd (wink, wink) reason...my kids don't always agree with me. haha

It really IS good though! Here's the recipe for you to try it out at your house tonight!

LENTIL STEW

Ingredients:

6 cups water or veg bouillon

2 cups dried lentils

1 cup chopped onion

 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

1 tsp basil

2 tsp salt

2 stalks celery

4 carrots diced

 1 can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 clove garlic, chopped

4 large potatoes, sliced

2 Tbsp vinegar

Bring water to a boil in large heavy pot. Rinse lentils in cold water and drain. Slowly add lentils to boiling liquid, reduce heat and then simmer 1 hour. Add all remaining ingredients except vinegar. Cook at least 1 hour until lentils and potatoes are tender. Add the vinegar and simmer another 5 minutes.

(The picture isn't the best, bc I hadn't planned on posting it originally, so just took one with my iphone for Instagram, but I've had so many requests, here it is!)

Serve and enjoy!

Flattered and Featured!

I was so crazy excited that Crataholics Anonymous featured me and my DIY Sock Minion on her FB site. I mean, she's BIG! I mean 203K likes on her FB BIG! Love her blog site AND her FB one!

They are both so different. She spends so much time taking on peoples questions on her FB site here and posts them, so that anyone can answer and help, because, as much as we think we all know, there is no way we know it all! This way, it gets out to so many more people! AND she personally responds to everyone letting them know when their question will come on, so that you don't miss all the helpful suggestions people give.

THEN!!! You still have her blog she runs that has super fun ideas there too! Right now she has a super cute crafty free printable you can find here. Too funny!

Go to her site and download this for free. Thanks Craftaholics Anonymous!

Indoor Smores! (Yummmm!)

Who doesn't love smores?! BUT not so much making them in the cold? Yeah, that's me!

I found this recipe years ago on the side of a Golden Graham box and kept it. I haven't seen it on their

boxes in forever though, so I thought I would share. :)

Ingredients:

8 cups Golden Graham cereal

5 cups miniature marshmallows

1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips (I used semi sweet)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

5 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon vanillas.Additional 1 cup miniature, if desired

Butter 9x13 pan. Measure cereal into large bowl. Microwave chocolate chips, corn syrup, and butter uncovered, stirring every 30 seconds until all melted together and smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour evenly over cereal and toss lightly until evenly covered. Stir in additional marshmallows. Press into pan. Add a few more marshmallows to top if desired. Let stand uncovered at least one hour. Refrigerate to accelerate the setting up process.

So easy, right? And so yummy!!!

(This recipe is not my own. As I stated, it was off of a Golden Grahams cereal box and is a TM of General Mills.)

Great sites to find Silhouette promotions and codes

Happy Valentines Day! I wanted to give you all some blog love today, so I thought I would share some great places to find some inspiration, project ideas, Tutorials, discount codes and so much more!

I've mentioned a couple times recently the FB group I have joined that is a Silhouette Challenge group. I absolutely have loved being part of it so far. They are a group of Silhouette lovin' people that are all so helpful, encouraging, and ego-building. They have answered questions, given tips, shared tutorials, files and projects and more! AND there are several who have their own blogs/sites where they share their affiliate codes for Silhouette promotions. I am personally, not an affiliate, which is good for you today, bc that means I can share all the codes and were to get them with you! And let me tell you, there are some great deals going on right now on several!

Check them out!

• CLOSET: Lauren Lanker at The Thinking Closet http://www.thinkingcloset.com
• SUGARBEE: Mandy Williams Beyeler at Sugarbee Crafts  http://www.sugarbeecrafts.com/
• BABBLE: Jeanie Kuklish Hevener at Create & Babble http://createandbabble.com/
• SUBURBLE: Tara Tee at Suburble http://www.suburble.com/
• ARTSY: Amy Davidson Latta at One Artsy Mama http://www.oneartsymama.com/
• FINDS: Carrie Hurst at My Favorite Finds http://myfavefinds.com/
• HAPPIER: Melissa Riker at The Happier Homemaker http://www.thehappierhomemaker.com/
• BRAGGING: Briann Barnum Neeley at The Bragging Mommyhttp://www.thebraggingmommy.com/
• VINTAGENEWS: Candace Hutchins Herrero at Vintage News Junkie  http://www.vintagenewsjunkie.com/
• GIRLCREATIVE: Diana Mauro Miller at The Girl Creative  http://www.thegirlcreative.com/
• TURQUOISE: Laura Nickelson at The Turquoise Home http://www.theturquoisehome.com/
• FUNCTIONAL: Jessi Wohlwend at Practically Functionalhttp://practicallyfunctional.com/
• GINGERSNAP: Ginger Bowie at Ginger Snap Crafts http://gingersnapcrafts.com/
• DESIGNING: Ashley Phipps at Simply Deisning http://simplydesigning.net

So, if you're interested in checking out Silhouette promotions, go to any of these sites and see if they have one going on, get their discount code and go at it! Plus they are all great blogs to check out!

A Feature! Olympic BINGO cards

Our family was getting ready to watch the Olympics last week and I thought...I should make some BINGO cards real quick for my little ones to do while watch. My next thought was that someone probably already had! So I googled it real quick and yep! They were right there!

Free printable Olympic BINGO sheets from 30 Handmade Days . You can find them here.

They downloaded easily and I had them printed out in no time! I added some m&m's (that doubled as making the Olympic symbol of rings AND as BINGO markers and mouth quieters lol) and we were ready!

Thanks 30 Handmade Days!

A Fun Valentine Share/Feature

Just wanted to share this super cute idea for another Valentine that I found on Pinterest. It's from Giggles Galore and you can find the original post here. 

Isn't it great!? I love it AND you could still run out and buy some at your local grocery store and print out a fun little tag to go with it!

Cupid's {Pixie Stick} Arrows and Targets Valentine Snacks

I LOVE simple and fun little holiday themed snacks. They are so fun, yet go so fast, so I don't like to spend a TON of time on them!

These are so fun! And easy too! All you need is some pixie sticks, your old Christmas curly ribbon, some paper or vinyl...

and some kind of treat that is a circle. 

So fun and adorable and the kids love it!

 

 You can also stand the arrow up right into most treats!

 And just for a bit more fun...pick up some dollar heart necklaces at your dollar store, cut them and then hook them all together, add some pics of your loved ones and you've got some easy and fun Valentine bling for decoration in your house!

 Have a Happy Valentines Day!

Last minute Creative Valentine Ideas for kids

Need some last minute fun Valentine ideas and fun? Here's a small collection of ideas for you!

Friendship bracelets! Whether they are owl themed or any other, it's an easy and fun valentine or gift. Just cut out a fun shape and wrap the bracelet around and tape on the back. Print out a fun little sentiment to go with it and you've got a unique, non-candy valentine/gift. 

Another idea is to find some fun pencil tops or sharpeners and add a pencil to them to give as valentines. Last year we mad the mustache topped pencils and they were a hit! Plus they aren't gone (like candy) in two seconds, but they kids get to use them for quite awhile!

 These cute owl pencil sharpeners were so fun to decorate with. Then I just cut out the basic owl outline, printed the sentiment and punched it out with a circle punch, and let my daughter decorate them and put them all together!

 Now, if this isn't the strangest thing you've ever seen! It literally made me laugh seeing all these noses in a jar together! haha

Such boy humor and my 11 year old son loved this idea. I found the nose pencil sharpeners on Oriental Trading Company and then just printed and punched out the little tag we added to each pencil and sharpener.

I would love to see the kids' (and teacher's) reactions to these!

 If you don't have time to get these, you can always go pick up some of these funny glasses and nose disguises at a dollar store or other place pretty easily and pop the nose off. Still tons of fun for the kids! OR leave the nose on OR you can even add the following words as tags to the glasses!

 Whatever you do, have fun with it!

DIY Sock Minion

The FB Silhouette Challenge Group I recently joined challenged us to use fabric in our projects for February on our Silhouette machines, so this is what I came up with!

It's Minion Madness in a Sock! I don't know about your house, but in mine, minions are a huge hit...STILL! It doesn't go away! Everyone loves them! I was thinking about a sock bunny I made as a child (like a sock monkey) and thought I could make it in a similar way and it would make a great minion too! And it did! It turned out adorable and so fun to play with for my kiddos!

Interested in making one yourself? I'm posting a tutorial with step by step instructions below on how to make your very own DIY Sock Minion, so keep reading!

PLUS...I've got even more for you today after the tutorial! 44 other projects that you can do with fabric and your Silhouette from the SIL Challenge Group!

Now for that tutorial...here are my step by step instructions as to how I made it. :)

First thing you'll need to find is some yellow socks. I picked mine up at Academy. (Soccer or baseball ones would work great! The soccer ones are more thick, ribbed looking and the baseball a bit smoother...)

1-First thing is you want to decide the size of your minion and cut your sock. I used the long straight part for my minion. You can use the area from the toe to the heel, but I was afraid the toe would be shaped weird when stuffed, so I opted for the straight-away. (below)

The next part I used my Silhouette machine for, BUT if you don't have one, you can just draw this out and cut it yourself without a machine. 

I purchased some of the denim iron on patches to use for the overalls. (Since it is already stiff, there is no need to add interfacing when cutting on your SIL.) I placed it directly onto my mat.

I drew up the overalls and straps in my Silhouette program. At first I started with a design like this. I used simple rounded rectangles and welded them all together to look like overalls. (It's long on the sides to go around the backside of the minion.)

 You could do the above or...I then ended up changing it to this so that I had more options as to where the straps went on the minion. (The long rectangles were the straps now, so I could wrap them around better.)

 I used my Silhouette machine to cut the fabric. This was my first attempt at cutting fabric on it. I was nervous! Don't ask my why! lol I put the settings on canvas/heavy fabric. I ended up double cutting it and checked the ends to make sure they actually cut before I took it out of the machine...just in case I had to cut it again, but I didn't. A double cut worked perfect!

So, this is what you should have at this point:

 Then I cut a little square cardboard to go inside my sock that stretched it a bit to allow for the stuffing that would stretch it later. I ironed on the main part of the overalls.

 Then added the straps. (I circled one part of the straps at the bottom of the pic below to show you I also ended up cutting a little niche in the straps to get it to lay flat as it came around the side of the minion.) Then I started adding my stuffing.

 Okay, you are ready to grab a needle and thread now. You want to go in and out all the way around each end of the minion like shown in the pics below.

 After you go all the way around with your needle and thread, you pull it and cinch it all together tightly. 

 And lastly to finish the main part of the minion and to close him up, you hold it cinched together tight as you stitch back and forth straight across from different directions to keep that cinch shut tight and tie a knot.

Congratulations! You have finished the body of your minion!

 Next, you are ready for all the accessories that make him so fun!

I grabbed three blue buttons, two smaller for the tabs on the overalls and another for his belt buckle. I used vinyl and just cut a tiny diamond by hand and punched a tiny hole in the middle and then cut a tad out to look like a "G" for "Gru. I then cut out a tiny pocket shaped out of the scraps of denim left over from the patch and applied the vinyl to the belt buckle button and hot glued it on together.

The smaller buttons at the end of his straps on his overalls, I sewed thread through first and then hot glued them on.

I used two washer and two googly eyes for his eyes and some black ribbon to go around him for his goggle straps. Hot glued those all on too.

His mouth I probably struggled with the most. I debated on felt, but couldn't get it to look right, so I ended up using a muted reddish orange color (so it didn't stand out too much, but could still be seen) and stitched a funny little crooked smile on. I stitched across him one way and then came back the other way to fill in the gaps. 

 I didn't have any black yarn (although that would work even better I think), but used black embroidery thread to make his hair. I just sewed random little black pieces of hair all over the top of his head. You can also do it long and combed like some had or crazy sticking up! :)

  Looks like he's got his arms tucked in too! haha

 And there you have your sock minion! I love him! And my kids fight over who gets to sleep with him. As an afterthought, you could put rice or beans in the bottom of him to help him stand better or to be able to use as a bean bag. Just don't let him get wet! haha

 I love how his eyes seem to follow me everywhere! Too fun!

  

And now...

 I need some purple socks! (hint hint!)

PLUS, here's the extra for you today!!! So much fun in one (LONG) post! haha

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration! 

1. No-Sew Valentine's Day Pillows by A Tossed Salad Life
2. No-Sew Interchangeable Fabric Bunting by unOriginal Mom
3. Monogrammed Burlap Garden Flag by The Turquoise Home
4. Crawl, Walk, Bike by It's Always Craft Time
5. Freezer Paper Stenciled Tote Bags by Weekend Craft
6. DIY Bleach Spray Shirt by Practically Functional
7. Stenciling Sherlock by Please Excuse My Craftermath...
8. Felt Star Wands by Cutesy Crafts
9. Yoda Kid's T-Shirt by Architecture of a Mom
10. Mark Your Territory- Dog Flags by Black and White Obsession
11. Nautical Pillows by Lil' Mrs. Tori
12. Big Sister Gift & Silhouette Cut File by Creative Ramblings
13. Nerdy Baby Onesies + Free Cut File by Essentially Eclectic
14. Easy Easter Bunny Onesie - Silhouette Cameo Craft by Adventures in All Things Food & Family
15. Fabric Envelopes for LEARNING LETTERS! (& cut file) by From Wine to Whine
16. "Good Morning, Sunshine!" Memo Board by Tried & True
17. Hearts-A-Lot Burlap Pillow Cover by My Paper Craze
18. Baby Quilt by Dragonfly & Lily Pads
19. Surprise Holiday Banner by Whats Next Ma
20. "Team Betty" Tote Bag by The Thinking Closet
21. DIY Sock Minion by Create it. Go!
22. Pretty Up Some Organza Bags by Getsilvered
23. Easy Heart Appliqued Onsies by Create & Babble
24. Bleach Pen Gel & Freezer Paper Stencils Made with the Silhouette Machine by Bringing Creativity 2 Life
25. Valentines Baby Onesie & Boy's Shirt + Free Cut Files by The Frill of Life
26. Valentine's OWL Always Love You T-shirt by My Favorite Finds
27. DIY Screen Printed Curtains by Chicken Scratch NY
28. Fabric Painted Quilted Wall Hanging by Terri Johnson Creates
29. Glitter Iron-On Top by Simply Kelly Designs
30. DIY Monogrammed T-shirts with Silhouette Heat Transfer Material by Pitter and Glink
31. Birthday Challenge by Fadville
32. Machine Applique with SIlhouette Cameo by The Sensory Emporium
33. Fabric Applique Valentine's Day T-Shirt by DailyDwelling
34. "Cute as Cupid" shirt by crafts, cakes, and cats
35. Sew Cute Applique by Life After Laundry
36. Rhino Onesie by It Happens in a Blink
37. Upcycled Birchbox Cameo Accesory Organizer by Cupcakes&Crowbars
38. Customizing textiles with Heat Transfer Vinyl (working title) by feto soap
39. Easy Fabric Art by McCall Manor
40. Lady Bug Tote Bag with Silhouette Rhinestones by Ginger Snap Crafts
41. Mommy and Em's Coordinated Aprons by TitiCrafty
42. Canvas sketch project and a share by Clever Someday
43. Foxy Lady Pajamas by Mabey She Made It
44. Teddy Bear by Work in Progress

And just if you're interested, here's the schedule for the year for our challenges, so make sure to check back each month to see all the amazing things you can do with your Silhouette!