Close To My Heart WINNER!

The winner of the Close To My Heart giveaway is..........

 

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 14 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

  Congratulations to Britany Betenson who said...

"I am now a follower of her blog "  

She also commented that she would love a new album!

Congrats again and enjoy your prize.

Please email me your contact info so that Sharesa can get your prize to you.

{All C.G. giveaway winners have 3 days to claim their prizes before another winner will be awarded}



   

Knock-Off Inspired Contest @ 733...

Ruffle Pillow from Pier 1

Kim over at seven thiry three is hosting a fun Knock-Off inspired contest. You have until Feb 11, to enter your best knock-off inspired project. Grab your project and head on over to enter. As I have pillows on the brain{still}, this is what I'm entering...

This fantastic little gem resides at Pier 1 for a mere $29.95, gorgeous but not what I want to spend on a pillow, especially when I need at least 4!

Praise be to the knock-off, here's the one I came up with, and at about $7.50 per pillow, it's like I  bought 1and got 3 for free!!!

I used a 12x12 pillow form and about 1 1/2-2 yds  of 100% cotton fabric, cut into 3x3 inch squares, per pillow. As these won't be used for anything other than looking at, I put them together with a lot of fabric glue. A dab in the middle of each square, and then pinched together to form the ruffles,  and then more glue on the form to hold the ruffle in place. I started in the center and worked my way out, tucking the new layers underneath the already established ones.
Be sure to check back on Wednesday to see what I made to match! It's big, and tall, and hangs on the wall...and I LOVE it! {And it was inspired by a paint sample pamphlet-another knock off of sorts!}





 Happy {Knock-Off} Crafting! 

Birthdays and Buttercream Frosting!

Monday Munchies...

 My sweet little #4 daughter turned 5 over the weekend. We had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday together, and then I secretly cried in the bathroom at the thought of this sweet little thing heading off to kindergarten in a few months! Why do they have to grow up?Anyway, instead of a main dish and dessert recipe I'm going straight to the cake! 

This has become the standard b-day cake at our house, 4 layers decorated in the colors and flavors of the birthday-ee. Halli chose a "cookies and candy" cake this year, so that's what she got.

I am not by any means a great cake decorator,  but I enjoy the adventure and so do my girls. I've learned along the way that your frosting can completely make or break the cake so today I share my very favorite frosting recipe...



Classic Buttercream Frosting Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened

3-4 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar, SIFTED

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream

Directions:

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer on medium speed.  Add 3 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the sugar doesn’t blow everywhere) until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter.  Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for for 3 minutes.  If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar.  If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time. 

Enjoy!

Squeezes & Smooches Valentine Decor

I just wanted to share this love- day cuteness, cause well, I think it turned out pretty darn cute! I never order vinyl, I spent way too much money on my cricut! But I couldn't pass this piece up.I love that it is a bit traditional {XOXO} with a twist of different {sqeezes and smooches instead of hugs and kisses}. I also chose to display it with a few frames instead of just wood...kinda want to squeeze and smooch it myself!You can find this and a lot of other fun vinyl pieces by visiting The Market via Poppies at Play Happy Crafting!

Valentine Re-Vamped Examples, Part One...

Okay, I'm about half way through my pile and ready to share...First though, a reminder of what I started with

 First I upgraded the candles with some paper, ribbon, and rhinestones,

{pretend that both candles are on a stand and that one didn't  fall out and then get ran over by your car!}

next I used the black rocks and necklaces to recover the vases. Added a little ribbon there to, and holy cow do I LOVE the black one!

Last I used another left over piece of wire crate, added some paper and a chipboard letter and made a glittery monogram.

For the next batch, I turned the two placemats into a little tote, and blinged up a few bottles and filled them with treats!

Still have the jewelry, jewelry box, and baskets to go! Here's a few close ups of each piece...

 candle stands...

Black Marbled Vase...

White Pearled Vase...

Monogram...

Placemat Purse...

Candy Jars...

See you in a bit with a few more ideas,

Happy Crafting!

**Just a quick side note, Brenda from Hall or Nothing {one of the exchange sponsors}has some more fantastic andbeautiful ideas onher blog HERE! Completely worthy of a look...  


  

T.G.I.F.-thank GOODIES it's Friday! #3 and Re-Vamped Ideas

Happy, happy Friday one and all! Here's hoping it's a great  day and a super weekend for you too. Just a quick plug for the Valentine Exchange {last one, I promise}. Saturday is the last day to sign up. I've got a great list of ladies already but can always make room for more. Speaking of those ladies, I've had some of them ask for ideas, so I went Treasure shopping...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I went a little overboard, but my brain was so excited I couldn't help it!

{I might have been the goodwill shopper of the day}

The fun part was that when these are all said and done, not a one of them will have cost more than $10!

Check back in through out the day to see what I re-vamped and how.

Alrighty ladies, let's party!

Just in case you're new to my party, here's a few things you need to know... Enter your project (up to 4 links), tip, idea, recipe, whatever. Visit others. Leave comments. PLEASE NO ETSY SHOPS! {Unless you offer a tutorial with the product} Come back again in the next few days and check out the goods. Link will be open until 11:59pm Sunday night. **By linking you give me full permission to feature your links, tutorial, photos and blog giving credit back to you of course! And feel free to grab a button and spread the word... 

<a href="http://www.wmcraftgoodies.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1140.photobucket.com/albums/n563/Wendy_Gardiner/tgifbutton.jpg" border="0" alt="Craft Goodies"></a>

Thanks for sharing, have a great weekend, and Happy Crafting!

 

More Threads and Thrills...Rolled Rosette Pillow

*** 9/09/2012 I just received a comment on this post that I can't decide if they were joking or not. It was kind of mean, but either way, they asked that I let you know that this project isn't quick. It took me several hours to complete one pillow so if you need to have this done in an hour here you go...it's not going to happen, sorry. But then too, I did mention that in this post. I removed the comment, it makes me sad, hopefully your pillow will make you happy!***

I've been pining for pillows lately, today I finally got around to making a few. I am elated and tickled pink with them, so much so, I feel the need to share the story of their creation...

In my efforts to come up with a few examples for my Valentine exchange, I found myself at my local Goodwill. I gathered a few fantastic treasures and headed to the register to pay. Then an odd and super terrific thing happened... The cashier wrapped all of the glass items I purchased in white t-shirts! What? Seriously? So much better than old newspaper! 

I got home, unwrapped everything, and sat staring at a pile of white t-shirts. I felt super guilty at the thought of tossing them, but what to do? Then the light bulb started glowing. I ran across a beautiful pillow last week that was covered in crocheted flowers-I wanted one badly. Two problems though, one the pillow was $70 and  two, I don't crochet. I thought I had solved the problem by resolving to make the flowers from ribbon, would have worked but would require A LOT of ribbon. So what if I cut up the t-shirts instead? OH YEAH! Thank you Goodwill lady!

 I tore the t-shirts into long strips about 1 1/2 inches wide. The nice part was because I tore instead of cut, the edges rolled on their own, saving me a ton of time. I gave the strips a bath in a mix of warm water and baby blue paint. {I knew this would last due to the countless #of shirts I've ruined while painting}

 I rinsed the strips out, gave them a twist to remove the water and threw them into the dryer.

Then I started rolling, and rolling, and then rolling a little more. Once I had the flowers rolled and stuck together, I sewed them onto a pillow square.

And ta-da...

...my baby was finished!

Just in case you're wondering, I used approx. 60 rosettes per side for 3 pillows, and I used 12" pillow forms.

The ironic part, I was trying desperately to finish these to enter them in a contest. They took a bit longer
(like several hours...) than I thought they would, and I missed the link!

But that's okay cause these babies rock!

And thanks to the awesome Goodwill  lady, only cost me the price of the pillow forms...

Happy Crafting!

I've linked this post to these great sites: My Romantic Home Someday Crafts Tatertots and Jello Bubbly Nature Creations Fast Daze I {HEART} Naptime

Threads & Thrills Thursday...baby gifts and Girl Boy Girl Inspired!

I realize that the idea of an appliqued/printed t-shirt or onesie isn't a new thing. But have you noticed how much cuter and easier they to produce now a days?Thanks to crickets, silhouettes, and the like, you can make anything, almost without scissors. I have baby gifts on the brain lately! I think almost everyone I know is either pregnant or just had a baby. {I just found out I'm going to be an aunt again! Wahoo!!!}With so many gifts to come up with, I have to have something practical. I bought three 5 packs{yes, that many!} of plain white onesies and 4 receiving blanket sets to make matching gifts of a blanket and onesie each, and then set out to find some inspiration... This is an older post, but I LOVE it. I have a few friends that this suits to a "T", {or onesie as the case may be}there is a super tutorial for it over at I Heart Naptime,my favorite part is that she attached everything with velcro so you can have a new outfit just by changing the flowers!  

And really, can you go wrong with this for your little man?

This one is from Sew Dang Cute, but you can find them everywhere.{just fyi, if I had a boy, I'd totally hang over at I Am Momma, Hear Me Roar, she has the boy thing down!} These are what I'm currently loving... Almost makes me want to have a baby! {Kidding, honey you can start breathing again...}I love that you can keep track of how old your munchkin is just by getting them dressed, and seriously, what a spectacular gift! Most of the sets I've seen have 5 shirts age o, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.I found the tutorial for this set here*note-these are iron on transfer patterns, not appliques! And last, time for a shout out!!! In my searching for inspiration I saw this... As the momma to 5 girls,  I'm a sucker for pink. I contacted the maker of this sweet outfit and found an amazingly talented and super sweet lady! And well, I absolutely have to share her with you...Meet Brooke Douglas from Girl Boy Girl Inspired and Bella Boo's Bowtique"My name is Brooke Douglass. I currently stay at home, run my Hair Bow and Accessories business online (Bella Boo's Bowtique), and I am getting ready to help my husband take over the family Heating and Air business. I have 3 great kiddos and my 2 girls are the reason I make all the girlie things I make. I have now started getting into some boy crafts and have been inspired to make my son some great items! I absolutely love what I do and do not plan on stopping. I plan on doing big big things with my business!!!!"

She makes fantastic hair accessories and shares a lot of the tutorials on her blog 

but her custom designed outfits,

 to me, are what sets her apart...

{take a look}

...so spunky and fun!

I have no words, I just want one...

...this one too!

Brooke does custom orders for birthdays {the sweet little pink #1 outfit was one}

as well as custom orders for special occasions, like say a trip to Disneyland...

{I LOVE the earring! Makes me giggle!}

 and she also specializes in photo props, you know those one of a kind little somethings that make a picture magic, like this...

Talent! nothing but talent!

Thanks Brooke, for letting me share you, I am "thrilled" to get to know you...

Happy Crafting!

   



Wire Crate Re-Make...{What Wendy did Wednesday}

In the craziness of trying to get back to normal, I some how managed to forget that it was my turn to teach preschool today.So, my "play" time yesterday was filled with chaotic cramming of lesson plans instead of making something fun. Hence a much later post today than normal-but I got her done!!! 

Ta-da! Meet my daughter's new bulletin board via and old set of wire crates. So in my genius mode that I'm currently residing in, I didn't take a picture of the crate before I tore it apart.

 My best description of it is this:

You can buy these in the home storage section of most dept. stores. They generally come in black or white and have around 16 of the panels in a set and some plastic"joints" that hold them all together. When they are stuck together they form a wire cube with 4 individual cubbies.

Know what I'm talking about?

{If you don't, I can't possibly imagine why. That is an amazing description! NOT!}

Anyway, I've never had any luck with these things staying together. I was just about to toss them when I had a thought, "These just might make a great magnet/bulletin board! Great Scott Batman! Save them!"

{that might be stretching the wording a bit, but not by much...}

I kept 8 of these and then with some black craft wire...

...I wrapped the edges all together to form my "board"!

Then I added the pennant flags for some cuteness.

{The flags were sent to me from Sharesa, the CTMH consultant sponsoring a GREAT GIVEAWAY  this week! Along with the paper used to decorate them and the stamps. Love the paper? Love the stamps? They are just part of the prize package she's giving to the winner! Click the link for entry details.}

It will be fun to come up with some magnets and clips to help hold things in place! I'm totally loving it and can't wait for my girlies to get home from school to see it...that's what I did today!

Happy Crafting!

I'm partying with this post here:Type Aseven thirty-threeThe Thrifty HomeSanta's Gift ShoppeFireflies and JellybeansTatertots and Jello