Floral Embellished T-Shirt

Today marks the 100th school day for my 2nd grader.

The class has a fun celebration planned, 

and her teacher asked that each child wear a t-shirt decorated with 100 things.

I, of course, procrastinated until last night to work on it...

I knew that no matter what I put together 

- it would be time consuming - 

so it might as well be something cute that she could wear again.

I started with this cute shirt from Old Navy 

(except ours had navy stripes with blue flowers.)

I figured it already had 2 flowers - 

why not add 98 more?!

Using fabric from my stash, I cut the additional 98 flowers.

(It took a while...)

Then, using Wonder Under I ironed them to the shirt.

Not wanting anything too uniform, I randomly applied here and there.

(This is the back of the shirt.)

To make sure it would hold up well in the wash,

I quickly sewed the edges of the flowers - nothing too perfect.

I look forward to seeing how the edges fray; I love that look!

My daughter was thrilled with the results and couldn't wait to go to school!

(Click to enlarge.)

Peg Doll Necklaces

Whew!

The whirlwind of the holidays is behind us.

As much as I love Christmas-time,

I am always ready to move on once the 26th hits.

My home, de-cluttered from holiday decor, is fresh and clean.

I can breathe again!

I did want to take a moment, though, to show

yet another peg doll Christmas gift that I put together.

This time I made necklaces for my daughters' best friends.

The colors I chose reminded me of the 50's.

I imagine that the girls names are Peggy and Donna

and that they are on their way to a sock hop.

(Does that make me sound crazy?)

If you are interested in a tutorial to make

some of these yourself, click HERE.

I have one more post planned on gifts I gave for Christmas,

and then I will be fully ready to move on to 2011!

May Your Christmas Be Merry and Bright!

Peg Doll Townhouse

I have a serious weakness for dolls and dollhouses.

No matter the type, I love them.

So when I was perusing Michael's one day and came

across these little houses on clearance I could not resist.

(They were being marketed as CD storage.)

I knew they would be PERFECT town-homes for peg dolls!

The wooden houses were originally unfinished,

but a few coats of bright paint brought them to life.

The furniture was a huge score.

Would you ever guess the little bed, chair

and vanity all came from the dollar store?!

I had to work to contain my excitement

when I spotted them on a recent trip!

The furniture had a deep red stain that I loved,

but wasn't sure it would coordinate.

To help tie the colors together,

I chose a fabric for the bed that included pink, turquoise and red.

I cannot wait until Christmas morning so

I can give them to my sweet nieces!

Ribbon Necklace

It's 5 days until Christmas...

Have you been ready since October or are you

frantically running around tying up loose ends?

I tend to get really organized and

productive about 3 months in advance.

Then I relax, thinking,

"I have so much time to get the rest

accomplished, I'll just take a break."

(Like the hare in the race against the tortoise!)

And because I feel so good about how much I've done,

I let the days slip away, until it's 2 weeks to Christmas

and I have a list a mile long filled with all of the

782 "little things" that I didn't think about 3 months ago!

In case I'm not alone in this organized/chaotic planning,

I thought I'd share a super easy,

yet perfectly pretty last-minute gift.

This ribbon necklace can be put

together in under 30 minutes!

(Sorry for the black/white shot. I had to take the photo at night and my

kitchen lights were turning the damask backdrop into a radioactive green!

Either way, the necklace is black!)

After picking up a roll of satin ribbon and a string of beads,

I followed this tutorial to make it as a gift for a friend.

If you are in need of a last minute gift for

a sister or friend I highly recommend this project!

Here are a couple other quick and easy necklaces to try:

Dupioni Silk Necklace

Flower and Ribbon Necklace

Happy Gift-Making!

2011 Calendar

I just found the cutest calendar and had to share it!

Its large (11"x17") tear-off sheets with

brightly-colored doodles captured my attention.

Here is a sample of a few of the months:

Isn't it adorable?!

I've hung mine from magnetic

clips on my refrigerator -

all ready for the new year!

If you want one of your own,

I found mine at Hobby Lobby

(The purchase price is $15.99,

but you can save 40% if you print a coupon).

You better hurry!

p.s. Just to be clear, I'm not advertising for Hobby Lobby - I just love the calendar!

Easy Birthday Treats

My oldest daughter will be turning 8 over holiday break,

so today I brought cupcakes to her school to celebrate!

I didn't have the time or energy to make something from scratch

(birthdays within a week of Christmas wear me out!);

but I still wanted to make it special.

Thankfully, Wal-mart's bakery had mini cupcakes

already decorated in pink and purple icing

(any girl's favorite colors!).

Wanting to find something cute to top them,

I ran by Michael's.

These glittery butterfly clips jumped out at me.

They were perfect!

I know that cupcake toppers were not their intended use,

but they were exactly what I wanted.

Each butterfly was backed with a clip

(I disinfected before use),

that I inserted into the icing.

In the end, my girl was happy,

her classmates were impressed,

and I enjoyed bringing a stress-free treat!

Dry-erase Message Board

Long time, no blog! I knew it had been a while, but when I opened blogger to see that my last post was in September, I was completely shocked!

I admit that regular posting has proved to be a challenge for at least the last year. I guess after 2 and a half years of craft blogging, I was feeling uninspired. Not to say that I haven't worked on numerous projects over the last year; its just that I didn't feel that they were anything that you hadn't already seen before.

After taking this extended break, I think I'm ready to come back! I may not have mind-blowing and original ideas every single day, but I will have fun showing you what's going on in my craft room!

To kick off my return to no-pressure craft blogging,

why not start with a project that's been

all over the web for the last year!?

A Dry-erase Message Board!

I've had this oversized frame sitting around and

thought it would be perfect on the wall just off of the kitchen.

I used brown craft paper as the backing,

and then cut snowflakes from the Sunday paper.

For some sparkle, I added glitter along the edges of the flakes.

(I plan on changing the background as the seasons change.)

I love that while utilitarian in purpose, it is also pretty to look at!

Thanks for stopping by! I look forward to showing you what else I've been up to!