Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone!  I'm taking the day off to spend time with family and friends.  I hope you are too!  Hubby's playing golf, I'm hitting Hobby Lobby, then we're off to swimming and BBQ.  What are you doing today?

Of course, I want to say a special thank you to our troops, particularly those who have lost their lives in service to our country.  Words are not enough.....but it's all I have today, so if you are a part of a military family, I honor you today!

And of course, a last minute idea for that BBQ- Patriotic Strawberries.

Simply dip halfway in white candy melts or almond bark, then the tips in blue sugar.
** Update**- This picture has been pinned a lot, and when I originally wrote the post, I was new to the whole "Pinterest" thing and didn't source it properly.  I found the picture via Pinterest, which linked me to here.  So, thanks to All Recipes for the inspiration!

 I found this via my new obsession, Pinterest.   It's invitation only- and I have a few to offer.  If you're interested in trying out Pinterest, leave me a comment or email me, and I'll send one to you until I run out!

Have a great day, everyone!

Displaying Kids' Art- A Thrifted Sign Makeover

I know there are a lot of ideas out there for displaying childrens' art.  In fact, I made one for my daughter's room out of an old chair rail  painted pink, with clothespins for the art.   Unfortunately, it hasn't held up to the wear and tear of three children and visiting friends.  I wanted something sturdier for my boys' room.

I found this old sign at Goodwill a while ago. 

 I actually like the sign, but it was really scratched up and worn.  I sanded it down the best I could, then applied about four coats of paint to cover the old design.  I then sanded the edges, cut some vinyl words and a hot air balloon with my Silhouette, and attached some metal bulldog clips with a very strong adhesive.  I used a non-toxic variety since I have small kids, but you could use whatever you have on hand.  

This is the final product:

Linking up to some of my favorite parties this week:  go check them out!

Three Things Thursday

Welcome to Three Things Thursday!  As always, I am amazed by the talent out there.

1.   These tulip flower cookies from Fowl Single File are just beautiful.  I always tell myself I'm going to make some beautiful cookies next time I decorate, but I just never get around to it.



2.  This Patriotic Printable from Anything But Perfect is perfect for Memorial Day and Independence Day!  I love how it is patriotic without screaming Americana.  Simply elegant and cute!  I can't link to her photo, so make sure you click on the links above to visit her blog and download your own copy!

3.  These Clay Tags from My life on Cedar Street are just beautiful.  I love the simplicity of the white tag tied to jute rope.  I may have to try some of these myself.




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Have a great weekend!

Scrappin' Wednesday no. 20

As I've been going through my pictures, I realized you can definitely tell things were rough for a few months.  I hardly took any pictures in January or February of 2010.  The reason-- I was totally sleep-deprived and barely functioning!  My third baby was by far my toughest.  He was grumpy from birth.  He wasn't colicky, and I know some people have had nightmare experiences with that, but he was just not happy.  Ever.  Then, about this point in time, he became completely reliant upon his pacifier to sleep.  It took me forever to figure it out, too, because it wasn't the typical "wake as soon as the paci falls out" kind of dependence.  He was waking EVERY night about every 45 minutes to an hour.  What happened, was, it would fall out while he is in the deep part of his sleep cycle, and then, as he would cycle back to light sleep and start sucking, there was nothing to suck on, so he'd wake up.

So, at about four months, we went cold turkey.  Bye bye, paci!  It only took a few days to kick the habit, but even that first night without it was SO MUCH BETTER!  He went from waking every hour to getting four to five hours at a time.  Yay, sleep!

Anyway, long story.  Not much to scrapbook, which will actually help me in my quest to catch up in my scrapbook pages!

Here's a page I made for my son's third month pictures.

It's My Birthday- and You get the Present!

Yesterday was my birthday!  I am the president of the Primary at my church, which is our children's Sunday School.  They sang a birthday song for me, which I loved!  The chorister told them I was 18.  The adults laughed, but one astute boy said "I thought you had to be older than that to have kids, and you have three!"   So, sadly, I had to admit that I was really older than 18.

Anyway, I got some great gifts for my birthday.  My sister in law sent me all this fabric from Korea, where her husband is stationed.  I have heard great things about the fabric stores in Korea.....

My mind is swirling with ideas.  I know some things I'm going to make with it already!


I also got Silhouette gift cards, and gift cards to Michaels and Joann's.  My family knows me so well!

My mother in law also got me these sweet bags.  I can't wait to load up my stuff into them.

Even though my birthday's over, I still have one more present- but it's for you!  First of all, I have the winner of the Fuzzy Sushi Giveaway.  The winner is:

TaRa- who said "Slouchy Newsboy Hat in Stone is my favorite on FS"

Congratulations!  Check your email for further details!

If you weren't the winner, don't despair.  Jen from Fuzzy Sushi is giving all of you a coupon code for 10% off your purchase in her store- so head over and buy that cute item you discovered- I know I am!  Just enter "MEETTHEFUZZ" at checkout to receive your discount!


Have a great week, everyone!

Three Things Thursday

Please enter the Fuzzy Sushi Giveaway!  You've got until Saturday at midnight!

Go here or scroll down to enter!

Sorry this is late- my internet was not working this morning, so it took me awhile to get everything back up and running.  Plus, it's just one of those mornings....

So, prepare to be inspired!

1.  First up, Lynette at My Craft Discovery has a tutorial that might just change your shopping life- especially if you have tall, skinny kids like me!  This DIY Adjustable Waistband tutorial will be my lifesaver!

2.  Have a graduate this year, or know one?  Krista at While He Was Napping shares a Graduation printable that would be easy to make into a great gift- I could see it Mod-Podged onto a plaque or framed and embellished.  Plus, she offers a version made into a card!  Perfect if you're sending wishes (and maybe some moo-lah).

3.  Kelly at The Collide-A-Scope made this Beach Rules Subway Art.  I am so ready for summer (and our upcoming beach 10th Anniversary, no-kids vacation!) and I just love how this turned out.  This is definitely going on my to-make list!

Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!  Feel free to grab a button if you were featured today!

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Scrappin' Wednesday no. 19

Don't forget to enter the Fuzzy Sushi Giveaway!  $25 for Handmade Accessories--

who wouldn't want that?  Go here to enter or scroll down.

Before I move on to 2010, I thought I'd show you what I came up with for our Disney trip.

I wanted something bright and colorful, and then I used shapes to create the classic "Mickey Ears" silhouette.  I also found two fun fonts that were perfect for this mini-album:  Mickey and Walt Disney Script.  Mickey Avenue has pretty much every font Disney has ever used, so go there if you need some!

My children were so little when we took this trip.  I would love to take them again, but I'm not sure when we'll have the chance.  I love Disneyland.  My husband and I went there while we were on our honeymoon (is that weird?)  We even got matching Mickey ears and had them embroidered.  His said "Just" and mine said "Married".  We got a lot of comments on those!

Have you been to Disneyland?  Disney World?  Both?  Do you have a favorite? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Giveaway- Introducing Fuzzy Sushi

I've got a really sweet giveaway for you today.  Meet Jen from Fuzzy Sushi:



"Hello everyone! I'm Jen and Fuzzy Sushi is my Etsy shop. I'm an American living in Germany and I love to knit and crochet. I started out making things for myself, my kids and my friends and then decided I really wanted to share my accessories with the world! I love to create things that make you smile when you put them on. I work with primarily European fibers and vintage embellishments. I love to scour flea markets and Europe has an amazing number of them. Most of the vintage buttons and beads currently in my shop were picked up on recent trips to Berlin and Paris. The beautiful spring weather here has inspired the current line of hair accessories in the shop. When the weather starts to cool off again, you'll find me working on hats, scarves and gloves!  While I love to create things for adults (especially myself!) to wear, I'm drawn to adorable accessories for kids time and again.  I look forward to your visit!"

I found Jen when I was browsing Etsy, looking for some fun new jewelry, when this gorgeous crochet flower caught my eye:

She also has beautiful hair clips, like these:

These are seriously cute hats....(for you or your kids!)

I don't drink coffee, but if I did I would sure be putting it in one of these reusable coffee sleeves!  So. Stinkin'. Cute.

There are lots of other things too- headbands, flower clips, wrist warmers..... oh, just go visit her shop!

Jen is generously giving one of you a $25 gift certificate to her store.  Here's how to enter:

1.  Mandatory Entry- Visit Fuzzy Sushi on Etsy and leave a comment telling me your favorite item.

Extra Entries-- 1 entry for EACH thing you do: (please leave a separate comment for each!)

-- Become a follower of Occasionally Crafty or remind me that you do!

-- Like Occasionally Crafty on Facebook (use the box on my sidebar!-You might want to do this one because a FB-only giveaway is coming up soon!)

--Like Fuzzy Sushi on Facebook here: 

--Follow Jen on Twitter here

-- Follow Jen's Blog, Das Sushi

This giveaway will close at 11:59 pm PDT on Saturday May 21st.  The winner will be chosen by Random.org and announced Monday, May 23rd.  Good luck everyone!

Tiny Bows Pillow

I was browsing through the home section at TJ Maxx awhile ago, and saw these adorable throw pillows with tiny green bows on them.  It was so cute, but of course didn't match anything in my house.  I knew it would be easy to re-create one at home.

I made mine more of an oblong lumbar pillow, but you could make this in any shape or size.  Here's my pillow:

To make your own pillow, follow the directions below:

1.  Cut two pieces of fabric to fit your pillow form, plus 1/2 inch on all sides for seams.  I didn't use a pillow form, so I just kind of chose a size that looked good to me.

2.  Placing your fabric right sides together, sew a 1/2 inch seam around all four sides, leaving an opening to insert the form or stuffing.  Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.

3.  Trim your corners and seams, then turn your case right side out.  Use a crochet hook or something similar to poke out the corners, then press your case flat with an iron.

4.  Use a ruler and a fabric marker or pencil to mark where you want your bows.  I did mine in evenly spaced rows, but you could do whatever pattern you want.

5.  Tie tiny "shoelace" bows (just like you tie your shoes).  Even out the ends of the bows so they are all about  the same, and singe the ends very quickly with a lighter to seal them.

6.  Adhere the bows using a few stitches or hot glue.  Hot glue won't hold up in the wash, so use stitches if you plan to wash your case at some point.

7.  Stuff your pillow or insert the pillow form.  Sew the opening closed using a ladder stitch (or however you prefer).

8.  Place cute pillow on bed and smile!

I am linking up to some of my favorite linky parties:  Go check them out here!

Three Things Thursday

Do you know how hard it is to just pick THREE things I love?  I could probably call this series Thirteen Things, or even Thirty things.  But I won't.

Anyway, here are three things I found this week that I love:

1.  This Ruffled Business Card Holder at Johnny in a Dress is super cute!  I'm sure you could adjust the measurements to hold other things too- maybe an iPod, phone, or even a Kindle?

2.  I really need one of these Roll-up Accessory Carriers at Anngela's Pretty Little Things.  It's really cute and simple to make- she provides a tutorial and directions from Singer on her blog.

3.  This is a recipe that combines two of my favorite things- cookie dough and cheescake.  So of course, this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheescake from Katie's Cucina immediately caught my eye.  Now I just need a reason to make it....or not!

Thanks, my creative friends!  Grab a button if you were featured today!

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Scrappin' Wednesday no. 18

This week's scrapbook layout celebrates my youngest's milestones at turning two months old.  I also finished up my husband's birthday scrapbook page, which means I am unofficially done scrapbooking 2009!  I do have a mini-album from our Disney trip to do, and then I will really be done!

I find it hard to scrapbook photos of my boys.  I really like the flowers, ribbons, and such that embellish the pages, but they just don't seem to fit on a "boy" page.  I try to make it interesting with coordinating paper, buttons and brads, and other more neutral embellishments.

Thanks for staying with me on my scrapbook journey!

Checking if off: My To-make List

The good thing about browsing the crafty blog world is that I am inspired to make so many projects!

The bad thing is that I am inspired to make SO MANY projects!

My "Things I want to make" list grows longer each time I log on.  I just know I'll get to it "someday".

This weekend, I finally checked off one project I've had bookmarked since December (which, really, is nowhere near my oldest bookmarked project!)   Little Miss Momma made this Pom-Pom Bib Necklace, which I LOVE.  The thing is, I'm pretty much a t-shirt and jeans/shorts kind of gal.  With three young kids, I've always felt like "what's the point in dressing up?"  And accessorize?  Rarely.  When you've got one putting all your jewelry in his mouth, it doesn't make you want to wear anything too cute.  But, my youngest is 19 months old- he's starting to get past the strangling-you-with-your-own-necklace phase.  So, at least a few times a week, I'm trying to dress a little nicer, and wear a cute necklace, bracelet, or hair clip.  It makes me feel a *little* more stylish-- and that makes me a little happier.

Anyway, here's how my necklace turned out.

I made it to match the skirt I made myself.  Happy Mother's Day to myself!

Three Things Thursday

Before I get to my favorite things this week, I wanted to let you know that my Pottery Barn Cottage Frame Knock Off  is being featured at Knock off Decor.  I'm thrilled!  I love a great knock-off, and this site has a great collection!  If you haven't been, go and check it out- there are some seriously awesome projects over there!

On to Three Things I love this week:

1.  This Blogging Calendar by Evelyn Kate Designs is cute AND functional.  I love it- if you have a blog you know how hard it can be to stay organized.  Her blog is just beautiful, too.

2.  I love this pillow made from a man's t-shirt!  Maridith at Strictly Homemade promises a tutorial is coming.  I'm always looking for a new pillow idea!

3.  This Mother's Day Plaque from Sassy Sites is a beautiful gift to give someone- perfect for Mother's Day!  I love the combination of the Subway Art with an upcycled cabinet door.  Plus, she personalized it for her mom- wouldn't it be fun to sit down with your kids and brainstorm words that show what someone means to you?  Love it.

I hope you're inspired!  Feel free to grab a "Featured" button if you were featured here today!

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