All American Rag Wreath with a Cute Little Star!

 

Are any of you fabric junkies like me?  

Because once the word gets out that you are, you get fabric from all over the place just handed out to you!  And I am not complaining since I can usually find a use for it. But I have been hanging on to some fabric that had me scratching my head.  Not much you can do with stars and the fabric had a country, folky kinda vibe going which is not exactly my style.  But I knew if I used some vibrant 4th of July colors...I could make this fabric work for an easy 4th of July Rag Wreath. And I love that for me, this entire project was another one that cost me...ZERO DOLLARS.

I grabbed some wire wreath frames and began sorting red, white, and blue fabric.  

I cut them in to strips and began tying them around my wreath frame.

 I tied them in single knots in case I had a change of plans later.

 I also added burlap and red ticking to give it a summery feel with some texture. It also helped with the khaki color that made the star fabrics kinda country looking and even that color out.
I loved that it worked together beautifully.

 Next, I decided to make some stars out of the red ticking and make them into little cutie patootie stuffies to hang from fishing line on the inside of my wreath.

I used a light blue embroidery floss, stuffed them with a little poly fil, and blanket stitched them closed.

 The navy and star fabric turned into little rosettes for the striped stars so they would have "stars and stripes."

 Cute right?
Yet I always think stars look like they have arms and legs and the point sticking up is a head.  

Do any of you?  

Am I alone in this wacky thinking?

 I love how they warm up my front doors.  I have to tell you I was kind of sad taking down the ruffly white wreaths I made for Spring. But change is always good so you appreciate things more, right?
And I ended up putting them on the inside of my house on one set of french doors. 
Yay me.

 I hung the wreaths with extra red ticking and made little bow tie bows for them too.

Such an easy project and great for kids to help out too!

Five Uses for Red, White, and Blue Bandanas : Good Living Magazine Project 3

I have begun to have a quiet obsession with bandanas lately.  It all started when I began brainstorming ideas for the summer issue of Good Living Magazine.  And my mind would not stop thinking about all you could do with a bandana.  There are other ideas I want to try but here are the ones I loved best!

A little bit patriotic and a little bit country 4th of July! :) 

And at $1 per bandana...the creative ideas are endless!

These bandanas used as napkins are as simple as you can get.
I love that they are the perfect size.

They look so cute with the little mason jar sippy cups.

How about wrapping some favors for your 4th of July celebration?

 

I think this is my favorite one.   

Wrap up a VERY American apple pie and tie with a bandana. 

Slip your pie server through the knot and attach a cute chalkboard label with twine.  You can even carry this like a caddy from the tied knot.

Dress up your favorite flip flops! 
And yes I have seriously had these for 8 years from Old Navy.
I buy new ones all the time but I LOVE these.

The kid version is just cut strips of bandana tied around the thong part of the flip flop.  The flower is made with double folded circles from this tutorial and I sewed a strip of the bandana underneath so it can be tied to your flip flops and removed later.

Or use the flower as a fun pin!

Do you have some LOVE for the BANDANA now?

I know I do!

Hugs My Sweet Friends!

DIY 4th of July Sparkler Cupcake Picks : Good Living Magazine Project 2

If I could marry a craft, it would be this one.  For real.  I love these little cupcake picks so much.  I mean, who doesn't love sparklers?  As a young girl, I remember how excited (and slightly terrified) I was holding the real ones on the 4th.  I would be stare at it and then get braver, spinning them in circles and delighting in such a fun celebration. Making these brought back sweet summer memories for me and I think this might be a fun one worth repeating.

All you need: 

Silver Crochet Thread (by Red Heart Fashion purchased at Wal Mart), 4 inch skewers, scissors, and hot glue.

This is like making a pom pom...wrap around three fingers 40-50 times.

Gently slide the loops off and place them on top and in the middle of a length of the thread.

Tie it securely with a double knot twist it to be back and do it again.

Cut the loops on either end.

It will look like this.  Without the loops I missed before taking this shot. Oops.

After a little dab of hot glue on the blunt end, slide the skewer inside the knot and hold until set. 

Fluff it out.

Look at this adorable cupcake pick?  I love that it has just the right sparkle to make it look real!

I made six of these and they took me about 10-15 minutes.

They totally make me happy!  What do you think? 

Thanks for peeking in on Day 2 of my...

More Fun Stuff Again tomorrow!

Linking to:
Show and Tell Saturdays at Be Different, Act Normal
Tatertots and Jello

Mason Jar "Sippy Cups" Good Living Magazine Project 1

I have seen these cutie mason jars for quite awhile and I absolutely love the idea of drilling a hole in the flat lid and using them as sippy cups.  Love, Love, Love It!

But my ever frugal self does not see me storing these jars if that is their only purpose.  I have 3 gajillion things I could do with them so I decided to make a set of TEMPORARY ones.  So instead of drilling a hole, I just used paper inserts and removed the flat lid.  Interchangeable and festive too!

Here is what you need to make these:

8 oz Ball mason jars (12)

patriotic scrapbook paper 

(card stock would work best but paper is fine)

straws

craft knife

pencil and scissors

Trace your lid onto the wrong side of scrapbook paper...

...and cut your circles out.
(I would make extra just in case or seal them in clear contact paper in case of drips)

Place the circle inside the screw-on lid with the printed side facing down.

Tighten the screw-on lid until the scrapbook paper becomes taut.

Do this with all 12.  

Don't they look fabulous?

With your craft knife, make a tiny  "X" in the center or side of your cup.  

I chose to do it on the side.

Don't make it too big or you could create a hole larger then your straw.

Pop in some festive straws and you have some pretty, patriotic party cups!

I will have fun ideas every day this week until Friday!  
Can't wait! 

Linking to: 
Tatertots & Jello
Show and Tell Saturdays at Be Different Act Normal

Father's Day Flip Flop Card

 

I had to share this card the girls and I put together two years ago for Father's Day.  Our family kinda likes to do nostalgic gifts and nothing is cuter then hand and foot prints from our girls! And my husband keeps this card on his dresser so he can look at it whenever he wants.  So incredibly sweet. It is missing stickers and crumpled a bit from handling but...that's part of the charm knowing it means so much to their Daddy.

So glad we dated it knowing when we gave it to him. Ella was not yet 1 and Cati was not yet 3.

My husband is an amazing example of God's love.

 We even put a paper on the bottom that looked like shoe tread.  

I still laugh when I look at it knowing I did that.

 Here is my husband holding his precious card.

Do you have any MEANINGFUL ideas we could do for my husband this year? 

He would love anything but I am out of ideas this year.

Have a happy weekend!

Magnetic Kid's Art Tray

I feel almost silly writing this post not knowing if you will think it is a pretty good idea or a little boring.  But since I made it for my girls I figured I would share it and let you be the judge.

Guest Posting at Yesterday on Tuesday: Knot Tied Fabric Scrap Garlands

Hi Everyone!  

So sorry there have been an orchestra of crickets on the blog! We just got back from having so much fun at Disney.  Aside from the hubs forgetting his license, having our stroller taken after 30 minutes at the Magic Kingdom on our first day,  scaring the daylights out of our girls riding the Peter Pan ride (really?), my Ella terrified that the tunnel on the "It's a Small World" ride was like the tunnel in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and literally panicked (we now fast forward through that part but I guess it left an impression)...it REALLY is the happiest place on earth. 

This is also my time to be crafting for the magazine so I kind of get focused on that and the blog becomes a bit silent.

But hop on over to sweet Malia's lovely blog ...Yesterday on Tuesday where I am guest posting to share two no-sew garland tutorials and all you need to know is how to TIE A KNOT! 

This one...

...annnnnnd this one!

I seriously love the easy ones.


Take a peek!