Vintage Fabric Heat/Ice Pack

I have collected a massive amount of beautiful vintage sheets and pillow cases. A couple of years ago I made these "rice ice" packs, as our family calls them. I have a new friend that I wanted to make one for, but take it up a notch by using perfect vintage fabric! These don't get any easier. I am a VERY basic seamstress, and these are a breeze even for me. We keep ours in the freezer at all times so that we have "ice" ready at all times. 

Simply cut two identical pieces of fabric in the size that you want. Pin or hold them, right sides together and sew along three sides. Turn inside out and fill 3/4 of the way full of plain, dried rice. This is great to buy in the bulk section! Turn the open ends in, pin along the edge, and stitch! Ta da!

I found a poem on a message board to go along with the gift, and printed it up on a cute blue mason jar using my Silhouette software. I also made mini versions as tiny hand warmers! I'm going to make some hand warmers for my girls before our Christmas parade on Monday! 

Teacher Appreciation!

This week is teacher appreciation week! We are headed out in a few minutes to our Charter School. We meet with our teacher every two weeks. I thought I would bring one to each of the three main teachers, as the kids are familiar with all of them because of Friday electives. Although I am technically their "teacher", I don't have to do any of the hard stuff like testing, and records, and paperwork.

I bought my berries from one of our fresh local stands. Spring means strawberry season in California! The boxes came from thinkgarnish.

I used double-sided tape to stick the ribbon to the box, and the card that I made with the Silhouette software. Because of the angled sides of the boxes, I taped it level with the base of the box in the back, and wrapped the sides up at an angle to meet in the middle of the front. I lined the boxes with parchment paper and washed and dried the berries before filling them. A sweet treat for the afternoon! :)

Shanty's Picture Holder

Quite some time ago, I saw this post on Shanty 2 Chic. It took me awhile, but I finally made one! I love how it turned out. My board is a different size and my little decorative pieces are different, but same idea!Did I mention that it was my birthday this week and my hubby got me a telescoping miter saw?! Yes, he's the best! This block of wood was my first cut, I'm in love! The other three pieces I got at Hobby Lobby. I put Gorilla Glue in the picture, but then switched to E6000. I glued it all together, and went to bed. Unfortunately one of the joints came apart the next day so I reattached that part with hot glue. Next I spray painted it in Rustoleum Heirloom White. Then I sanded the edges and rubbed a bit of Valspar Antiquing Glaze on it and then wiped it off with a cloth.

I tried to do a close up so that you could see the distressed edges.

Lastly, I hot glued on the clip and we're ready for a picture!

I love how it turned out and I REALLY love this picture on it. I might add a fabric rosette in the corner to jazz it up a bit. ;)

DIY Silhouette Plate

I have wanted to make a silhouette plate of each of my kids for a long time. I never knew how to do it. There is still probably a much easier way, but this is the way I did it....I took a profile picture of Emma and I tried to outline the silhouette with the pen tool in photoshop. You can see how imperfect it is. The next time I do this I won't bother because this step isn't necessary for the way I ended up doing it. I was trying to outline it, save it, open it in my Silhouette Studio software and cut it. Problem was when I opened the file the Silhouette didn't know where to cut because it was just a flat picture. I attempted to trace it yet again and was only getting frustrated. Next time I will just print the plain old pic and then continue with the steps below.

I printed it out on cardstock {so that it won't rip when I cut it}. I got out my cutting mat, black vinyl, craft knife and tape. First tape down the vinyl, then the picture as well.

Next you will start cutting it, pushing firmly to cut both layers at once.

Here is my plate, just a basic salad plate I found on clearance at Marshall's.

After you're done cutting, just peel and stick and make sure you don't get any bubbles. If you get bubbles, lift is up carefully and lay it back down, pressing as you work from one side to the other.

Next I opened up my Silhouette software and cut out Emma in the LD Dainty font.

Voila! Done! I think that these would make GREAT Mother's Day gifts, Grandparent gifts, or just look great hanging on a plate rack on your wall!

I can't wait to make more!

Emergency Kit {A girl on the go's best friend!}

I subscribe to TidyMom's Blog and as soon as I saw her post on making a Girl's Emergency Kit, I knew I had to make one! This is so EASY and Smart! Click on the link for the tutorial to learn how to make your own. It is simply a square potholder with snack size baggies sewn in it, and folded in half. You sew in a ribbon and button closure and you're done!

The baggies are overlapped and a zig zag stitch is run down the middle.

Fill your baggies with whatever you always need, but never seem to have on you. Batteries, floss, safety pins, bandaids {those pesky new-shoe blisters!}, Q-tips, Salonpas heat patches {back pain}, mini hand sanitizer, etc. Stash it in your glove box or purse and you'll never be without something you need again! I'm so excited!

The Littlebeane Boutique Giveaway Winnings!

I was lucky enough to WIN a blog giveaway from The Twinery Blog! The prize was 5 sheets of personalized 2.5 inch stickers, 60 address labels AND a personalized set of recipe cards!! I was SO excited! They are from The Littlebeane Boutique, and I thought I'd share them with you. I didn't show the other address labels because it would have been too hard to not show my address, but they have a big turquoise "B" with black polka dots, and then our name and address off to the right. I have ordered from The Littlebeane Boutique before and her work is amazing! Check it out...I covered up the address, but I LOVE these round address labels!

These are the recipe cards I chose.

Love the lemons!

How cute are these whisks?!

I loved these Easter ones! (I didn't know that these would have my name on them but oh well!)

There are a handful of different cupcake sticker designs to choose from- it's a hard decision! I LOVE how everything turned out and most of all that it was FREE!! Check out the Twinery's blog, it's really cool (and they're on facebook). And be sure to remember The Littlebeane Boutique when you are planning a party (there are PAGES of party designs!!) , looking for a personalized gift for a baker in your life, or shopping for yourself!

Easter Gable Boxes

I am planning on making these gable boxes to be at the table for Easter dinner. I am going to make them for each child that will be there. I bought my boxes at Box and Wrap, they are the cheapest I've found- especially if you buy in a group of 25 like I did. These are the largest size they carry {9x6x6}. I cut out the names on my Sihouette using the LD Dainty font. I bought the bunny at the Silhouette online store for $0.99. It actually came with other bunny shapes as well, but I really liked this one. The flower shapes came with the software. I cut the grass and stems out of green vinyl by hand with an exacto knife.

Each box will be slightly different, some will have Easter eggs on them, some butterflies. I plan on using different colors to cut the names out.

I am going to put some paper shred in the bottom and fill with a few treats. The bubble wands and bunny candy jar were both from the Dollar Tree. I'm going to fill the jar with candy, and probably make some chocolate covered peep bunnies to add as well.

Here is a close up of the ribbons I used on this one.

Sorry for the blurriness- it was hard to get the pink vinyl to show up on camera without using the flash that would wash it out completely.

They also sell them in white I believe! The shipping took longer than I expected, probably about 2 weeks, but if you order in advance, this is the cheapest I've found! All of my vinyl came from Expressions Vinyl.

Linking up to week 2 of Spring Fling at This Blessed Nest.

Black and White Party!

Exactly a week ago a friend hired me to plan her daughter's 11th birthday party! If you know me at all, you know there are few things I like more than party planning! Actually sometimes the planning is even more exciting to me than the party, does that make me weird? Guess that means I belong behind the scenes! Take a little black and white walk with me to see what I came up with in only a week's time!It is a slumber party so the girls were gonna need LOTS of snacks. I made these popcorn cones out of pretty scrapbook paper and double sided tape. The stand is actually called "dress me up plate" from Southern Living at Home. I've had it for years, and usually I weave ribbon matching the theme, through the holes. I went rummaging through my cabinets trying to figure out how I was going to hold the cones UP...I came up with this! The bowl is Ikea, I've had it for a couple of years too! It fit perfect! The cones stood up great!

It really is ALL in the details! I designed this little label for the gourmet popcorn I made with my Silhouette software and just printed it on my printer instead of the cutting machine. {font -LD Dainty $2.99 at the Silhouette online store}

My friend had some black and white fabric tablecloths from previous parties so I went ahead and used one on the table.

I also designed and printed this Happy Birthday sign and put it in one of my frames this morning. These two prints took me about 10 minutes to design, print and cut! Only a small amount of work will sometimes give you great details.

I made both of the cake stands last year, I love them! The plates are from HomeGoods and Marshalls, and candlesticks from thrift stores.

I bought the "lace" cupcake cutout wrappers from Hobby Lobby. They are kind of a pain in the butt because they're so tedious to wrap and they get caught on each other, but they sure do add great detail! I made the cupcake toppers myself! I was kind of proud that I can now make my own! I just downloaded a free sheet of Easter toppers and then opened it with Photoshop and edited it to look the way I wanted. Obviously I changed EVERYTHING about the file, I just used it to already have the squares perfect size.

I originally wanted to use white gable boxes for the gift bags, but since I only had a week, it didn't leave any time to order online {cheaper}! SO, I used my white paper bags. I bought a stamp at Hobby Lobby, and the stamps came out SO crisp and perfect! It looks like the bags came with the damask emblem already on them!

The matching tags were also from Hobby Lobby. Next, after I got the girls' names that were attending, I cut them out of black adhesive vinyl and put them on each bag! I think this makes it so personal! My silhouette did most of the work, I just had to peel and stick! I just simply folded the tops down, hole punched and tied with ribbon! Inside the bags: See's candy sucker, Bath and Body Works mini hand sanitizer with the purse/backpack rubber hanging case, handmade

rosette headbands, and a nail polish.

Here is a sample of the headbands I made. Each one is different.

She wanted to do smores with a fire pit in the backyard, so this is the smores tray!

When we settled on the black and white theme I had just received a package of treat bags from one of my online party stores. They were perfect for the girls to fill with candies for their movie night!

I made two fabric bunting banners and they turned out great! I made them out of stuff I already had. I used white lace that is flat on one edge, and scalloped on the other. I already had that too!

Here is a close up of the four patterns.

Another view of the table.

I removed the labels from water bottles, and replaced it with strips of black and white scrapbook paper and double sided tape!

Here is the second banner!

I hope you enjoyed our little black and white walk through the party pictures! I am honored that people trust me enough to allow me {and pay me!} to do what I love- plan their parties! It's a big responsibility and I don't take it lightly, I am very grateful!

Linking up to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up Party AND Bird's Party Blog AND The DIY Home Sweet Home Project: More Merrier Link Party