Chore Chart

Here is yet another Christmas present I put together. I wanted to make a chore chart for the in laws cause they still have 5 kids at home and things can get a little hectic. So I thought this idea might make things a little easier on everyone! So I got a list of all the chores in the house then I contacted Scribble It to get some help with the vinyl. They have a FHE chart that was very similar to the idea I had. I wanted it to have a magnetic strip on the side so it was easy for the names to be moved around, but I wanted the chores to be big enough to see. For the most part it was great, but unfortunately, and I don't know if this was because of the holiday season or not, but Scribble It did not treat me very well. I had to wait a long time to get my order processed and to even figure out what was going on. I ordered it the end of November and didn't receive it until Christmas Eve, and then everything that was promised wasn't even in the package. So to say the least I was very disappointed with Scribble It and probably won't use them again. Anyways onto what I fixed. My dad helped me route the edges of the board to make it look better, I painted it black and then added a gloss to it. The magnetic strip wasn't included, so I had to go to Ben Franklin to get that, but they didn't have strips so I bought a sheet of the metal and my Dad was able to cut it down and make it look decent. I used E6000 glue to glue the metal strip down. Then I found the "Love At Home" thing at Ben Franklin too, which I thought made it look really good. The magnets I just printed squares of different colors with the names on them, and then mod podges them on these cute ceramic looking magnets. Even though this was the biggest pain in the butt, I think it turned out cute, and it's already being used!

GPS Case

My Dad is a real estate agent and thus has to go to a lot of places that he probably doesn't know too well. So for Christmas Santa brought him a GPS to help him get from point A to point B. Well he needed something that would protect his GPS from getting too banged up. Since he helped my hubby and I sell our house (I would've made it for him anyways!) I decided to make him something. On Make it and Love it she has a great tutorial on how to make a cozy HERE. It was a really simple tutorial and worked out awesome!! The only thing was she only had something for the GPS itself. I needed something for the GPS and the cords. So I decided to just make two and then sew them together. As you can see from the two pictures I only sewed them together from the top and the bottom. I did this so the cords would still fit in the case and it wouldn't be too smooshed. And it made it even more fun cause my Dad has told me a bunch how much he loves it! That is what makes crafting totally worth it!

Hot/Cold Rice Bag

I have also been wanting to make one of these for a while. I'm glad I made it when I did cause a few days after I hurt my back and used it! I found the idea at my favorite blog Make it and Love it HERE and used her tutorial. It was a great tutorial and I followed it exactly how she did it! It was pretty hard though to get the rice to stay and to get my machine to work good. So my seams aren't straight at all. Oh well it does what I need. The thing I liked about it as well was when we put it in the microwave for 2 1/2 min it stayed hot for a really long time. I love it!

Camera Strap

So I see all these people making camera strap and I have been wanting to make one for a long time. Well I finally decided to do it. The only problem was I don't have one of those fancy SLR cameras and my little digital camera case has a tiny little strap. But I was determined to make it work. I first got the idea from Make it and Love it HERE. I used her tutorial and just changed what I needed to for my case. In fact I really did most of it the same. I just had to take my strap apart a little bit to get it through, and then I had to do a zig zag stitch across the seam so it wouldn't come apart. I didn't measure very well. But I think the zig zag stitch added a little extra to it!
Well I hope you enjoyed!

Lemonade Stand Award!

Brandy over at Home Sweet Home nominated our little crafty blog for the Lemonade Stand award. We are super excited about this. We just love sharing our ideas with each other and with whoever might want to look at them. There are so many blogs out there that we love. Here are who we nominate!

1. Make it and Love it (one our favorite blogs! As you can tell we make a lot of things that she's come up with! Thanks Make it and Love it)
2. U Create (She is really motivating and has some great tutorials and great ideas)
3. Not So Idle Hands (She is super upbeat and has great craft and kids ideas)
4. Brown Paper Packages (She is super creative and has great tutorials)
5. Nannygoat (She has awesome craft and home decor ideas)
6. The Idea Room (Tons of great IDEAS. I borrowed a lot of her Halloween decor ideas this last Halloween!)
7. Homemade by Jill (Such great ideas for kids and other projects as well. Check out her quiet book! It's to die for!)
8. Small Fry & Co. (She has fantastic craft ideas, and throws in a little about her life and her precious girls!)
9. How Does She (A little bit of everything. Great craft ideas, Women of the Week, Ideas to keep the romance alive, etc.)
10. Create Studio (Great craft ideas. Check out her craft room remodel! LOVE it!)

Sewing Machine Cover

I found this idea on Make it and Love it HERE. I thought it was a great idea since my machine is just left out since I don't have a case or cover for it. well I decided that this would be perfect. I got the material at Hobby Lobby, and then followed her tutorial. I did a couple things differently. First off I did it double sided because I used cotton instead of lightweight upholstrey fabric. Then I also cut a hole in the top so when I take my machine with me different places I can keep the cover on it. Anyways, I loved this idea.

Vitamin Bottle Rattles

I have one nephew that is 18 months and I was trying really hard to think of something to make for him. One day when I had him over he was helping get something in our food storage room and found some vitamin bottles. He played for a long time with them just shaking them up and down, throwing them, and stacking them. I thought it would be really fun to make something similar for him. So I collected vitamin bottles and got some scrapbook paper and borrowed my SIL's cricut (I just bought one so now I can use my own!).

How to make them:

1. I took off the labels as best as I could.

2. Fill the bottle with anything you can find. I put beans, popcorn, jelly beans, rice, and nuts into my bottles.

3. Use some kind of permanent glue, I used E6000 (cause I'm a real crafter), and glue the lids on so they can't come off.

4. Then I cut strips of striped black scrapbook paper and mod podged it onto the bottle.

5. Then I cut the names of different colors, onto the same color scrapbook paper, using the Cricut.

6. Then I mod podged those on.

7. Then I cut circles of fabric and put it on top with mod podge and colored rubber bands.

The next time I do this I'm going to try to think of something different to do for the top cause I wasn't totally happy with the fabric, but I think my nephew liked it! And it was fun to make! Enjoy!

Cookies in a Jar

These are the gifts the hubby and I made for both of our coworkers. This is a fairly cheap gift if you already have bottles. We nabbed half our bottles from my parents and half from his parents. Thanks parents! I got this idea, recipe, and download from Living Locurto. She had it for Halloween, but it was fairly easy to change it to Christmas! Everyone loved this idea, and some even used the cookies for Santa!

Cloth Blocks/Rings

Here's another Christmas present I made for my nieces and nephew. They are all under a year and when I saw this idea I thought it would be so much fun for them! I found the idea at Make it and Love it. She has a great tutorial on how to do these. I'll definitley make these for my kids!

Canvas Board/Tissue Paper Frame

For Christmas I made my Sister and Brother in Law this canvas picture. I got the idea from Brown Paper Packages. I took pictures of my niece and nephew after she was born. I just got an 11X14 canvas board, some black polka dot tissue paper, and printed the picture to be a 5X7. When you do this you just have to be really gentle with the tissue paper. If you're too rough with it, it can tear really easily. Also a side note for if you're giving these as gifts. Let them dry for like a week, or put wax paper in between whatever you've mod podged and the wrapping paper. I didn't do this and the wrapping paper stuck to the picture, so I had to redo it. But it still turned out great!!