Monthly Archives: February 2015

To Talk or To Not Talk

Do you have little ones that love to talk and not eat when it comes to meal time?  Mine love to talk and not eat and we sometimes find ourselves still sitting at the table an hour later because the children aren’t done.

My oldest is in elementary school.  I’ve noticed that when I go there to have lunch with him, that they have a period of time at the beginning of lunch that they can not talk.  At the end of the table is a little stand that has a green side and a red side.  When the red side is facing them, they can’t talk and must eat.  When it gets turned to the green side facing them, they can talk quietly with their friends.   And it’s never quiet in the cafeteria when it’s time to talk!

So, since we have a hard time getting our food eaten within an hour, my husband suggested that we make a very similar stand for our table!  I decided to make mine with Kunin Felt!

Talking Side

Both Sides

Using my Sizzix Eclips2, I cut out a person and a talk bubble out of cardstock.  These two items were included in the Sure Cuts A Lot software that is used for the Eclips2.  Then, I used pins to attached the patterns to the felt and cut out two of each!  I ended up cutting out two small strips of red to put into one of my talk bubbles to symbolize “no talking”.  I then cut out a red and green rectangle, probably 6×10 inches.  Using my sewing machine, I sewed the people and bubbles onto the rectangle pieces. FeltCutSew

Using a strip of white felt (3×10 inches), I folded it into half and then in half again.  Using scissors, I cut a right triangle, so that when it was unfolded it was a triangle.  I pinned it to one of my rectangles with the right side up.  I sewed them to the rectangle and repeated with the other rectangle.  I then cut out a 3×6 inch rectangle from white for the base of my stand.  I pinned it and sewed it to the top part of my felt stand, leaving a 2 inch opening for turning it inside out and stuffing it.  Once it was stuffed, I sewed it up from the outside using my sewing machine.  You could also hand stitch. sewingandstuffing

One of my kids thought it was cool and one wasn’t so happy about it, well until it was turned to the talking side!   Usually we start our meal by saying a blessing and talking about what we are thankful for that day.  Now, we say our blessing, set the timer for our 10 minutes of no talking, and then we can talk about what we are thankful for that day. meal time

Benjamin actually ended up like the talking/no talking stand.  He wanted to snuggle and sleep with it!  He carried it around for a little while before it went back to the table. Benjamin Now, just so you know……we aren’t doing this to be mean.   We just have an every day issue with a little too much talking at the table and very little eating.  And after trying it, it has actually helped!  Benjamin will be going to Kindergarten in July, so this also helps get him ready for what lunch time will be like for him at the elementary school!

Hope you like my Talking/No Talking Felt Stand!

Until next time………..

Be Mine Crafty – MineCraft Valentine’s

It’s finally the week of Valentine’s Day!  And my boys are super obsessed with Minecraft, so this year they wanted Minecraft Valentine’s!  Well, after looking, homemade Minecarft Valentine’s were the only ones that could be found.  No stores sold them!  So, I decided to make them!   Final
Recently, I was sent a Sizzix Eclips2!  And let me tell you…..I AM IN LOVE!!!!!   It makes cutting super easy!  So, I created my little Minecraft creeper faces in Adobe Illustrator, which I have as a graphic designer.  I converted the file to an .SVG file, imported it into the ECal2 software that works with the Sizzix and got right to cutting!  I also cut black rectangles for the cards, green squares for the creepers face and white light card stock (not DCWV) squares for the inside of my cards, since the cards were black.  I used DCWV card stock, in which ACMoore sells and they sell it in a pack of 12×12 inches pieces.   creeper faces
Using Inkadinkado stamps and ink, I stamped the inside of the cards.  I knew that my treats were going to be a craft, so I used a crafty saying:  “Be Mine Crafty!”  Inkadinkado
After getting everything cut out for my cards, I used Aleene’s Tacky 2-sided adhesive sheets to put the cards together.  I just cut the sheets up into smaller pieces and it worked great! creeper card
So, the treats to go along with the cards are Make It Yourself Cards.  I included a green square, a creeper face, some hearts and some scrap pieces of the DCWV card stock from what had already been cut. paperandhearts
On the left over white scraps that I had from the squares inside my cards, I used my adorable Laura Kelly Self-Inking Stamp from Expressionery.com!  How cute is that stamp?!?!
Stamp
Then it was time to stuff my bags.  I just picked up some clear bags from the party section at Target.  I also got plain white cards with envelopes from ACMoore.  I also included an mini bottle of Aleene’s School Tacky Glue for their card making, a pencil, a small thing of bubbles and a pencil topper eraser!    I decided that I wanted this years Valentine’s to be Candy Free because we also end up having way too much candy anyway and it ends up going to waste.  I folded the bags and stapled a folded piece of DCWV card stock rectangle to close the bag and added the card and the piece white cardstock with my stamp on it to the front and back to cover the staples puttingtogetherbags
How cute did these turn out?   I hope the kids like them!   all shots My idea for a Make It Yourself Card idea came from my super crafty friend Mothership Scrapbook Gal, Rina Gonzales!  Check out her Facebook page and her Etsy Shop!!!!!

Until next time…..

XOXO

Burlap Love Wreath

It’s February and the month of Love!  This Burlap Love Wreath makes me think of Love! wreath
Materials used:
A FloraCraft Foam Wreath
Burlap Ribbon
A 12×12 inch piece of burlap
Aleene’s Collage Pauge
Tulip Soft Fabric Paint
A Tulip Paint Roller
Red Coats & Clark Embroidery Floss and Needle
White Buttons from Buttons Galore
wreathandpaint
Using Aleene’s Collage Pauge and water, I added 3/4 Collage Pauge to 1/4 water to a plastic container.  It’s the formula usually used for Paper Mache.  I wanted to stiffen the burlap a little and to help it to keep from unraveling.  Once I soaked all of my pieces, I let them dry. burlap
Using a Tulip Foam Roller and Tulip Soft Fabric Paint, I painted the 12×12 inch piece of burlap.  I then let that dry. painting
Once my paint dried, I cut out two hearts.  I basically folded the fabric in half, cutting two hearts at once.  Using Embroidery floss and a needle, I sewed the two hearts together, paint sides out.  Before I sewed the heart all the way, I stuffed it with some felt scraps that I had left over from another project.  Then, I closed up the heart by sewing all the way around. heart
Using the burlap ribbon, I wrapped it around the foam wreath and used embroidery floss to sew the end of the ribbon to the the beginning to hold it in place. burlapwrap
From the scraps of painted burlap, I cut out red circles.  Using the embroidery floss, I added the white buttons to the center of the red pieces and attached them to the burlap on the wreath.  I tied them off on the front adding just a little color to the white buttons. dotsandbuttons
This lovely wreath is now hanging on my front door!  And I LOVE that it reminds me of LOVE!!! wreath
I hope that your February is filled with lots of love!  And I hope that you like my Burlap Love Wreath!

Until next time……

XOXO

Super Bowl XLIX, food and commercials

The Super Bowl is here and happening!   “Who are you pulling for, the Seahawks or the Patriots?” has been asked by several people today and in the last few days.  My answer has been the same every time…….The food and the commercials!  I really don’t care who wins the game.  I’m not exactly a professional football fan.  I’m more of a South Carolina Gamecocks college football fan!

My favorite part of Super Bowl Sunday is the food and the commercials!  I can’t exactly talk about my favorite commercials yet, because there are still more to go, but I can talk about the yummy food we have had!   Super Bowl Food

We’ve had some traditional and some not so traditional Super Bowl foods.  Our spread consisted of shrimp/cocktail sauce, a super yummy corn dip and tortilla chips, beef dip with pumpernickel bread, pigs in the blanket, a veggie tray, cheese and crackers and celery with homemade pimento cheese!

Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take a picture of the desserts before they were destroyed, but we had rice crispy treats and a gluten free brownie surprise (commonly known as Mississippi Mud)!  And I can officially say that I AM STUFFED!!!

My favorite commercials as of yet are of course the Budweiser commercial.   I mean come on….a puppy and horses!  Whats not to like?!  The Snickers commercial!  And the Fiat commercial!

Can’t wait to see what everyone else’s favorite parts of the Super Bowl 49 were!!!!

Until next time….

xoxo