Fall Garland

I am ALL ABOUT FALL!!!!! The fall is by far my FAVORITE season!! I love the colors, the crisp air, the holidays that occur in fall, and everything else associated with this season! I don't think there is one single thing about fall that I don't like! MAN.... suddenly I am in the mood to DECORATE for FALL!!!!! YAY!

This is an ADORABLE idea for a garland that you could use from mid Sept. all the way through the end of November! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!! There are SO MANY other things you could do with this same concept too!!!! I am thinking about garlands for my kids rooms, my craft room, all the seasons, birthdays....... STOP ME!!!!! lol

Find the wonderful tutorial HERE on Roots And Wings Co.

New Jewlery addiction!

So I finally did it. I bit the bullet. I dropped the load of money required to get all my jewelery making tools and supplies! I have been wanting to for a while now, but when I got a late birthday present of 35$ it tipped the hat! I only spent about $50 total to get everything I needed to start and make 2 necklaces so I guess that isn't too bad. So far I have only made a bit... and I don't claim in ANYWAY to be an expert!! But I would like to show you what I made!!! Here is a set I made for my mom. It was her 50th birthday last Saturday and I threw a '50's HOT' party for her! (pictures of that soon to come!) It was a blast and I think she really enjoyed it. Hopefully she liked the gift to!

Here are some pictures of the set I made for her. Since I am not doing a tutorial on this I will link you up to a few of my favorite Jewelry making sites. Hopefully you will find them useful in your jewelery making attempts too!




Ornamentea great step by step picture tutorials on jewelry making basics!

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. "Free beading patterns, tutorials, and Jewelry making instructions."

Beadage - all about beading "Make your own beaded jewelry with illustrated step-by-step tutorials."

SO CUTE!!!

Ok I LOVE this tutorial!! It is so simple that even I might be able to do it!!! I am SO doing this!!!!

Find it here on Lu Bird Baby

Paper sacks ROCK!

I have decided that I am big into upcycling! I am all about saving the environment. And even more so I am all about using something FREE to craft with!!! WOOT!

Here is a CUTE idea that you can use those paper sacks for! What a great way to package a little gift!

Find the tutorial HERE at PicnicBasketCrafts.

Calendar heaven!

I just had to hop on here real quick and toot about this great web store I found! I had the opportunity to go enjoy the 'Swiss Days' festivities in Midway Ut. this weekend with my dear friend and crafting cohort!

This is like the crafting fair of the year around these parts! CRAFTING BLISS EVERYWHERE!!! Though MANY of the booths drew my attention there was one in particular that I had to lay down the money at! Now you need to understand that I go to these crafty fairs for IDEAS. I am polite enough to not take actual pictures of the items I intend to go home and re-create at a fraction of the cost. (not that all crafters mind this... I am just too shy to ask) Instead I choose to move down a few booths and then snatch out my scratch pad and scribble furiously until the idea and all the details are listed out for me to remember.

Anywho.... This particular booth caught my eye because it isn't something that just anyone can do. This lady makes LOVELY vinyl calendars! They stick to any flat surface you want. You can use wet erase markers and wipe it clean for a new month! She also has OODLES of little extras you can buy with/for your calendar. Month names, dates, holiday pictures, practice reminders, medical reminders, even season decorations! SHE HAS IT ALL! And it doesn't stop at just calendars! To do lists, Job charts, and potty charts can be found on her site! TOO MUCH FUN! I am definitely saving my money to get me lot's o cute goodies for my calendar that I bought. This is definitely something that I don't have the resources to create at home. (though I am sure I could work something similar out... it wouldn't be so cool and easy as this!)

So WHERE do you go for all this lovley stuff!???
Right here
http://creativeclings.com

Enjoy!!
And if you get the chance tell her I sent you... maybe she will cut me a discount! LOL

Leather on the CHEEP! LOVE IT!

Found this tutorial and LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!! I so can't wait to try this out!!! I can think of some GREAT things I could do with this golden nugget! (too bad I just bought me a tub of Matte finish Mod Podge. Oh well...... another trip to the craft store... break my heart! LOL)

Get the tutorial HERE at Flower Foot Designs

Mermaid Party

Well it has taken me long enough to post about this party hasn't it!! Ah well... life flies when you are trying to get everything done AND have fun!

Here are some pictures from Miss. A's Mermaid Birthday Party. I think all the girls had a really great time. I know I had a BLAST with the decorations!!! I surpassed even my own expectations!! Below I will post how I threw this mermaid bash for only 20$.



I told my hubby I would get this party together for only $20. I am ALL ABOUT throwing a great party.... but I don't exactly have $150 to take 7 kids to one of those great party places. Personally I think this was more fun and memorable anyway, and she got to invite as many guests as she wanted!

The first step in this cheep party was to hit up the dollar stores!!! Mind you I had to go to more than one to collect all my goodies! Here is what I grabbed up to create all the decorations!

about 7 large rectangle tablecloths - $7
a bag of sea shells - $1
plates, cups, and napkins colored to match my theme- $3
Large fish cut outs - $2
Small bubble favors to hand out - $4
Wood cutouts of sea creatures for the craft (on sale at 10 cents a piece! SCORE!) $1
Streamers $2

All the other odds and ends I grabbed up from my stash of goodies at home! And there you have it $20!

With the table cloths I pulled them out the night before and doodled seaweed and sea creatures along the length of them. I taped them up to cover the perimeter of the room. Then I used streamers to fill in the upper section of the wall all the way around the room! The streamers also served for a fun door passage into our deep blue sea! For the couches I found some blue cloth I had lying around and gave them a quick cover up. The table with the cake was fun to set up and decorate with the shells all around! I had the girls all sit and eat their cake on the floor so I lined up the plates and cups along the wall. I found that stuffing the green napkin into the green cup made a fun 'seaweed' looking display.

When I was all done decorating I had to just laugh at myself. I really think I did this more for ME than for my little girl! Oh well... so long as she enjoyed it. I know that I LOVED it!!! Nothing like having kids so you can re-live your childhood through them!