Aggies Fan

Just wanted to share my enthusiasm for Texas A&M's win this week. haha

Created this file today and am excited to put it on a shirt. Love my Aggies!

What kind of sports memorabilia is your favorite?

Fun Fall Features

I've been working on some new projects the last couple days and they are ALMOST ready to share with you!

Meanwhile, I have some fun fall shares from other bloggers and sites for you today. Each one is better than the previous! Check them all out! (The links to the original posts will be under each pic.) Thanks to everyone featured for all the inspiration!

Too Yummy to Pass Up!

http://www.shugarysweets.com/2011/10/pumpkin-pie-truffles

How bright and cheery are these fun non traditional pumpkins!

http://simplykierste.com/2013/09/striped-polka-dot-pumpkins.html#_a5y_p=2285114

Love The Golden Sycamore!

http://www.thegoldensycamore.com/2013/03/knock-off-industrial-side-table.html

How fun! For age 1 to adult even!

http://www.makinghomebase.com/fall-decorating-painted-leaves/

Love these bright apple jars! And she even has a tutorial!

http://www.the36thavenue.com/diy-apple-mason-jar-tutorial

And last, you've got to check out this amazing giveaway over at Giggles Galore!

http://gigglesgalore.net/birthday-giveaway/

There you have it! Some of my favorite finds for the week!

And the winner is...

...Sue K! 

Congratulations you Lucky Duck! :) Happy for you! You'll have to let us know what your favorite is out of the basket. Thanks to everyone for entering and welcome to all our new followers! We're excited to share all kinds of ideas with you.

Makin' it Monday; Pottery and Pie

I love making things! OR creating! OR receiving hand made items...What's not to love with this combination?!

Pie? YES!
Pottery? YES!
Pottery made by your very own Dad? EVEN BETTER!

I love all things homemade, hand made, unique, refurbished, upcycled, creative, all of those! I think some of this is due to my parents. They both created hand made items as I grew up and I LOVE them! 

My dad has a potter's wheel and we get to play around on it from time to time when visiting. Even my kids have fond memories already of making things with my Dad out of pottery. 

This pie plate is a favorite piece of pottery that I have from him. (I have a bell he made out of pottery that is another fav.) I love the inside of this pie plate and the fluted edges. He took wire randomly and put in on the inside before firing it and it melted into the plate and made this design. So cool!

So, what is your most treasured item you ever received that was hand made? And what are making this Monday? :)

A DIY Paint Party!

I've got some fun for you this Friday!!

My nine year old daughter wanted a paint party this year for her birthday, and if you know me at all, I didn't even think about going somewhere to do it. Why not do it at home?!

First we came up with these cute invitations we made out of paint chip cards. We made a little pocket and then put all the info on a paint brush and tucked it into the pocket.

We picked up some white cups and plates and cut out some fun vinyl to decorate them and make them look like paint palettes (plates) and like paint buckets (cups...that was my daughter's idea!). I LOVE the way they came out. Maybe even one of my favorite things for that day! :)

We picked up some canvases and brushes. She knew she wanted to paint a branch with cherry blossoms on it, so I looked online a bit and found one with the moon behind it that we thought would work great. We bought the paint, and I tried painting one for the girls to see and follow. (During the party, I gave step by step directions and had all the girls stay together in the steps and painting. Ex...everyone take a medium paintbrush and start with your light blue paint and paint a circle in the middle...)

Then we got some extra candy in little buckets for decor and to add to the cupcakes later.

I was going to buy easels, but decided against it and just used tubs to prop up the canvases and that way they could also hold some of the supplies. (BC really? Would I use a bunch of easels very often? Love saving money!)

This party was all about creating, so even the cake (cupcakes on a paint palette...so easy!!! and fun!) was up for creation. The girls used the candy in buckets to decorate their colorful cupcakes.

 Overall, I think it turned out GREAT and not too over the top. In all reality, it was probably one of the easiest kids' party we have thrown and one of my favorites too. I love how each girl was so happy and proud of her own painting and how they all turned out different.

I'm even up for another! Maybe this time with MY friends! lol

Papercrafting with Mini Loaf Boxes

I haven't papercrafted in so long! It was fun to do it again.

I don't know about you, but we either have tons of over-ripe bananas or none. lol This time I had tons and kept throwing them in the freezer. So, finally I decided to make a bunch of banana bread and take it to some friends. Because, it's always nice to have someone think of you! AND what would I do without the support group in my life?! ...But it's so much more fun to give them away when they're dressed up a bit!

So, out came the paper! And they definitely turned out so much better!

What's your favorite thing to make with your over ripe bananas? What's your favorite way to let your friends know you care? We LOVE banana chocolate chip cookies at our house! And hugs are always a great idea! ;)

DIY Silhouette Back-to-School Photo Props AND a Silhouette Gift Basket Giveaway!

I LOVE my Silhouette machines! (Yes, plural! lol) I use them for so many things on a daily (YES, daily!!!) basis. Today I wanted to share some of the "Back to School" photo props I made to do some photo shoots with this fall. (Photographing, another passion of mine! Just love it!!!) And my SIL makes it even more fun to create the set up!

Yesterday I showed you the cute mirror I used in one of them with my daughter in front of some lockers. So fun! (Although it made her look way too old IMO.) sniff sniff

Here are a few other ways I used my SIL to make some photo props for this Back-to-School mini session.

Another locker shot. This time I cut out the words to use on the chalkboard with my SIL. I actually just put them on black paper and pop the paper in and out of that little chalkboard frame depending on which child I am photographing.

LOVED this fun set up next! We had too much fun with it! I used my SIL to do the same with the large "Back to School" sign, but placed it on a black posterboard this time, and wala! It looks like chalkboard!

And then there is the growth chart! Always a fun one to use on any milestone event! Perfect!

 There you have it! Some of my favorite ways I've used my SIL machines. But wait!!!! There's more today!!!

I'm excited to be part of a large group of bloggers that LOVE our Silhouette machines!!! So a bunch of us (19!) all teamed up and are helping host a HUGE Silhouette GIVEAWAY that you don't want to miss!!

PLUS they all have A.MAZING blogs that you'll want to check out!

The GIVEAWAY is for a basket of over $200 Silhouette items! Melissa from The Silhouette School is a genius for putting this all together and knows exactly the best things to get!! And they have come out with so many new amazing things lately, there is something for the beginner and for the novice! There will be ONE grand prize winner and the giveaway goes from today, Wednesday, August 20 at 7 am EST - Monday, August 25  at 11:59 PM EST. 

So...don't wait! You know you want this!!

Check out how to enter through Rafflecopter and to see more details here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Be.YOU.tiful!

It seems it's been hit or miss on the blog lately. Back-to-school is always a crazy time, but hoping my posts become more regular again soon. (BTW if you follow me on FB and Instagram, I post even more often there.) 

Excited to get to show you so many things I have been doing lately though!

I have wanted to put this on a mirror in my girls room for awhile now, but after making that last hand mirror, thought I would like it better on this again! And I love it!

Love seeing my girls use it! I love seeing them look into this hand mirror and then see the phrase in the large bathroom mirror too! Every girl needs this! :)

(It also worked great as a back-to-school photo prop!)

Wouldn't it great for prom or senior pics too! OR little girls dressing up?!! So many fun ways to used it other than just everyday!

Cast Vinyl is a Bear sometimes...

Some projects are a bear! Some you cut out several times and your machine messes them all up! Ugh. But when they are finally done, maybe they are even better than if they were easy to do! ;)

This was one of those. Looks simple enough...just words...but it's all about time too, isn't it? Finding the right font that is requested, spacing, design, cutting, cutting again, and again and even AGAIN! Then comes the application. Those don't always work out the same either. For not apparent reason either...but in the end, accomplishment and completion of a project feels sooooo good!

For this, I used cast vinyl; a vinyl that is more heat resistant (great going through the dishwasher even time after time or on vehicles out in the sun and weather constantly...). BUT...it is tackier/stickier and stretches more easily...too easily often, thus harder to cut and apply...so much hardier and long(er)-lasting.

Yeah for it being done and now I feel proud of it too! :) (Now, don't TOUCH it kids!!!)

Orange you glad it's Summer?

After making these cute teacher end-of-the year gifts this past spring...

I got this "scathingly, brilliant IDEA!" (What movie?!!) :)

I have wanted to try the bleach design idea on t-shirts for a year or two now and have never done it, but decided this was the perfect project for it! And boy, was I right!! I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the way these fun tshirts turned out for my kids and for our family's summer vacation this year!!

I got this one done before we left...

And took the others and crafted at the cabin. lol Yep! I take my crafts EVERYWHERE! HAHA

I seriously loved having them when we were floating the river. I just looked for orange to see where my kids were. :)

My older son's face did not look near as excited about them as mine though...and I hate to make a shirt that he won't wear again, so I adjusted his somewhat. lol And it was too fun and gave us more ideas to do more! :) Win! Win!

For those of you who want to know HOW to make these. I actually did not make my own tutorial this time, but am linking to the one that I found online that helped me the most. (I actually read a few before starting, just to see other people's experiences and how they turned out, and this tutorial here was PERFECT!) So a shout out to Rosey Corner Creations and a huge thanks!!! (Although I just cut my vinyl and used it as a stencil.)

After letting the bleach designs dry, I took my HeatTransferVinyl (that I cut out the words with) and ironed it over the design. So fast and easy and they look great!

So, there you have it! So easy and so fun! You've got to try it!

Drumroll...And the Winner is...

SURPRISE!

I picked two random winners from those who entered our Christmas in July Give-away!

Winners are:
Jessie Wynn Cook
and
Patty Phillips!!!

Message me with your address and you'll have this beautiful nativity in vinyl in the mail to you!
Thanks everyone!