Name Banner for Child's Room

My 9 year old daughter and I rearranged her room yesterday and I was noticing how blah the wall above her bed was looking. It just needed something to brighten it up a bit.

I'd seen these banners in pictures before and figured they were fairly simple, but had never really taken the time to figure it out.

Let me tell you how simple it was.

I made a triangle pattern out of freezer paper. I just cut out a shape- no measuring or anything. You can't get much easier than that. I guess if you're a perfectionist on measurements and all you could use a ruler, but I didn't.

The reason I like to use freezer paper is because you lay the shiny paper side down on the fabric and iron(on a low setting) and the pattern piece (freezer paper) adheres to the fabric. That makes it so easy to cut out- no pins! Then you simply peel off the freezer paper and you have a triangle shape. I made seven of these using 4 different colors.

***Just a note*** I used pinking sheers to cut out my triangles so I wouldn't have to sew them. Plus, I like the way it looks!

After cutting out your triangles, lay them out on the floor or table. Then, use the binding tape or ribbon to pin the triangles to form your pattern. I held it up on the wall after pinning just to check and see how it would look.
Sew each triangle to the binding tape. I used a zig-zag stictch.

Tie the ends in a bow or knot and hang on the wall.

I had some chipboard letters in my stash and thought they'd be extra cute on it. You could make the banner without the letters if you didn't have them. They just add to it a little bit.

I wasn't sure how to attach them, but I remembered that I had some spray adhesive. It worked great! I just sprayed the back of each letter and stuck it on. After it dried, I hung it up. Kayla loved it! I got an extra hug for it, too. I'll always take those :)

Krayon Keeper- Great Gift Idea!

A few years ago I found this website http://www.girlythingsbows.com/
while researching how to make bows. They have lots of super cute "free" tutorials on making bows, hair accessories, bow holders, clips, and of course, Krayon Keepers.

These can also be called crayon rolls. They roll up and you just use a button and ribbon for the closure or you can use two ribbons and tie it together.

When I give this as a gift I like to put new crayons in it. I guess you wouldn't have to even put any in it, but new crayons are so much fun.


And now is a great time to stock up on crayons. They usually run them very cheap in the "Back to School" sales. I usually stock up and buy enough to last me until next year's sales.

These are such cute little gifts paired with a coloring book. My children love to give them to friends on their birthdays. I have made some for boys, too. I just forgot to take a picture :(

Also, if you have an older child that you think wouldn't want one there are ideas around the internet to make art rolls- changing the size to accommodate colored pencils. I've been wanting to try it, but haven't taken the time. Maybe that will be my next project.

Making a bow holder

I enjoy finding ways to make gifts that are simple, practical and inexpensive.

I had bought a bow holder from a craft fair a few years ago. It was a simple wooden crown shape painted white and pink with a long wide ribbon glued underneath to hold hair bows.

What a neat idea! A few months ago, I was invited to a baby shower and thought I'd try my hand at making one myself using a wooden letter.

I painted it light green to match the baby's room. Then I added some little flicks of pink paint on the edge of the letter to give it a little more "character".

I also, made some bows for the baby to add to the gift. I thought it turned out so cute that I might do this next time I go to a baby shower for a girl. I don't have any ideas for a boy shower, but maybe I'll find something.

Since my girls have so many bows, I made one for them using colors to match their room. I think it turned out really cute. But the best part is that it is simple, practical, and inexpensive!!

Christmas countdown

My almost 8 year old daughter tells me every day how many days left until Christmas. Well, here we are and we have 3 days left. I have several more things I would really like to get done, but I'm not going to stress out about them. I try not to do that- it's not good for my health :) Well, here goes. My last few things left: - make 12 dozen cookies ( 6 dozen chocolate chip and 6 dozen rolled sugar cookies) I will freeze some of these to pull out when we need a yummy snack. This keeps us from eating too much at one time. -work on pillowcases for each of my children. I make each of my children a special pillowcase for Christmas each year. I'm very late getting this done. I'm using what I have on hand since finances are tight this year. I'm excited to see how they turn out. I hope I have time to finish. - make more Chex mix. I made a big batch yesterday, but I need to make some more for little gifts. - microwave raw peanuts. My father-in-law used to always give us raw peanuts every Christmas. They are so good cooked in the microwave and then adding butter and salt. Yum, yum! -make domino ornaments with kids. I found the cutest idea on the net one day last week. I'll try to find the site and put up the link. Such a cute idea!

Making More Bows

This weekend I made a few more bows and clips. I have a lot of ribbon and clips on hand so I had fun making these up to give away or use for my girls. They're so easy! It just takes practice to figure it out. It did for me anyway. :) There are some great tutorals out there. I enjoy hunting the internet for different ideas. The white bows I made for my little girls to wear in my brother's wedding this coming weekend.

T-shirts

Here's a picture of the 4th of July t-shirts I made. Check it out here: http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com/

It's super easy! Just don't look to close at my stitching :) This is the third one I made so therefore this one looks better than the others. :)

I also made the girls some cute and easy bows. I'm having so much fun making these.

What I've Been Up To

I am back from my trip with my husband and I'm glad to be home. It's always nice to go away, but it's nice to be home, too! I've enjoyed our summer so far. I've been trying to get my house in better order. It seems like there's never time with school and regular housework. So I've tried to take time this summer while we're on break from school and work on it. The children have enjoyed swimming in the little pool in the backyard and one day they enjoyed getting sprayed with the waterhose.

I've also enjoyed making a few things. I finished up two aprons- one for me and the other for a gift. I made three t-shirt dresses. They turned out cute(at least I think so!) I'd always wanted to try those, but never took the time.

I found several tutorials and combined them to make this dress.

I also found a cute tutorial on making 4th of July t-shirts. I bought some plain white t-shirts for the children about a year ago and never did anything with them. I think they were 80 cents each! When I saw this I knew this is what I wanted to do since I've been wanting to try my hand appliqueing (sp?) Check this out:

http://ourcozynest.blogspot.com

I'll post some pics later today of the shirts and the cute bows I made for my girls to wear with them. I'm having so much fun making bows!

My Summer To Do List Progress

Well, we're well into the summer here and I've been working on my to-do list slowly. Tonight I've been working on the apron I'm making. I found a cute and easy pattern on-line. I'll post pictures later. On Thursday, I let the kids loose with the box of craft supplies and they (especially my crafty seven year old) went to work on making lots of stuff. She used up a lot of stuff, but had so much fun. Here's a pic of her work, plus a couple of things my son made. He wasn't quite as interested as she was. At least not for as long anyway :) The newspaper makes it hard to see, but as you can see she was very busy. They both made little men/monsters out of the styrofoam balls and toothpicks. As for the rest of my list, I'm spending lots of time working on organizing/decluttering lots of rooms. Yesterday I rearranged/added furniture to my office/schoolroom space. I'll get it straight one of these days. One day at a time! We had our VBS the first week of June. It went well and it's another thing completed for the summer. I can't believe how fast June is flying by. Lots to do before it's over.

Feeling crafty???

I've been very crafty lately. I guess I kind of go in spurts with what type of project I like to do. Sometimes I like to sew, other times I scrapbook, and then other times I just like to read or bake. There are so many things I enjoy doing. I know lots of people who sew or others who enjoy scrapbooking. My problem is that I enjoy many different things and don't have time to do all of them.

I've always wanted to try my hand at making hair bows for my girls. They look so easy, yet they'll cost you about $3 or more a piece. Last week, a friend and I were discussing the idea and decided we'd try making them. I went to the craft store yesterday and got lots of clips and ribbon. To my surprise all the clips and ribbon were 50% off retail. Wow! This is right up my alley! I paid less than $8 for 70 hair clips and 45 feet of ribbon. What a deal! My girls are gonna be wearing bows to bed! Ha!!!

It was fairly simple especially after I figured out a few tricks. I had a lot of fun and need to go buy some more glue sticks so I can make some more :)

Making your own pinata

Crystal over at Biblical Womanhood hosts Frugal Fridays and I always enjoy reading them, but this is my first time to post one.

I'd always wanted to try making our own pinatas. I figured that it can't be that hard. I remember making them in Spanish class in high school and having so much fun. I thought it'd be fun for the kids to help with and we'd save a bunch (about $15) rather than buying a store bought one. I found this site and we got busy.

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/birthday/pinatas.htm

It was fun, but a little messy. Hey, we even did ours inside. I just laid newspaper all over the table and hung up the pinata on the ceiling fan. It did spin around some, so I'm sure there's a better way. :) Maybe next time we'll try it outside.

We used crepe paper and fringed the ends about halfway and then glued it around, alternating colors. It might not win any contests for pretties pinata, but it works and the kids love it!

Christmas banner

My previous post about this banner was deleted. I messed up and hit the wrong key :( I wanted to repost since I don't think it can be saved.

I have seen banners on different blogs and thought they were cute. I saw this tutorial on

asnipofgoodness.blogspot.com I thought it looked simple and easy to do. I got the stuff and thought it would be harder than it was, but it wasn't. I started making my own letters out of cardstock and then realized they weren't turning out like I wanted so I found some at a craft store that were so cute. I cut out my circles and pieced them together to sew. I'm not that great of a seamstress so the sewing could be much better, but I still like how it turned out. It's hard to sew in a circle :( It was easy to hang up. My sweet husband put some screws in the brick for me and there it is. I'm not sure if I like the stockings hanging above the banner, but it will be that way at least this year anyway.