Jammy Pants

I completely forgot to get a good picture of my rugrats in the jammy pants I made them! here they are Christmas Eve morning, impatiently waiting for me to take the picture so they can open Santa gifts.

I did not make B's jammies...those have been handed down since H was 1!, but H&D are wearing the pants I made...I should get a better photo of those :)

The Wonders of Photoshop

Merry Christmas to all with a quick view of the photo used in my family card this year!!

Photoshop can be so wonderful! I had the image on the left below and thought we looked good, but wasn't happy with the overall look of the photo...

Out came photoshop and after about 10 minutes of editing I was able to remove the "extra" signs and bring the focus back to us instead of the "snow route" sign!! Perfect, love it!

** I did use The Pioneer Woman's photoshop elements actions, I believe the one I used here was the Color Boost. I love this action set, so easy to use and such great results!


Merry Christmas!
~ Melissa

Repeat Customer

I'm not a big deal in the Etsy world, I haven't sold much out there, haven't listed much. In fact, my shop has been down for 6 months...since we sold our old house and I was too busy/stressed to have any listings, then I just haven't restarted...

But it's so fun when a prior customer contacts you requesting an item! I made her a hooded towel probably 2 years ago, and she wanted two more! It makes me feel so special :)

Displaying Holiday Cards

Mod Podge is so fun :)

 And easy!

My 4 year old and I cut scrapbook paper to the size of the wooden clothes pin. Painted the top and laid the paper on it. Let dry a few minutes, then painted over the paper to seal it, and paint another coat on.

Then I hung a ribbon on my pantry door and attached the cards, awesome!

Stockings

Baby B is a year old...and I finally finished her stocking! Last year I was too exhausted to get started on it :)  This year I didn't have as many fabric selections due to moving to the new town, but I was happy with the fabrics I found for her at our adorable fabric store!

Turkey Cookies

Late is better than never right? These are the adorable cookies my sister-in-law made via pinterest

cute, right? Have no fear, a few ended up "scary" looking

Bubble Ballet Skirt

Bubble Ballet Skirt Tutorial

Supplies (for a 4T or smaller size):
 1/4 yard of knit
1/2 yard of chiffon
coordinating thread

A Bubble Ballet Skirt is so fun and easy to make!

General rule of thumb for width of the fabric would be 2-3 times the stomach circumference. My little girl is 19" around, and I just used the full 44". Cut the length to 18" long.

for a 19" waist, you could cut two pieces of fabric that are 19x18 to accomplish the same look!

fold the fabric in half the long way and again the short way, stitch up the side to form a circle

I used an overlock stich to prevent fraying.

Turn inside out.

I forgot a picture of the next 2 steps,

Take the raw edges of your skirt and line them up, serge or interlock stitch around the full circle to prevent the fabric from unraveling with wear.

1/2 inch from the top of the skirt sew a long stitch to use for gathering. If you are worried about your gathering stitch breaking when you gather it, then sew a second stitch 1/4 inch from the top and pull the bobbin thread on both stitches together when gathering.

Now for the band. Cut it 5" long, and the width will be Tummy circumference - 2", so my little girl was 17"

Fold in half the short way and stitch together using a knit stitch or a zig zag stitch.

fold in half the long way hiding the seam

Lining up the seams, pin together the knit waist band and the chiffon skirt together, evenly gathering the chiffon around as you go. Use a knit or zig zag stitch so that the thread will stretch with the waist band.

Now put the skirt on your little girl and let her dance circles around your living room!

Silky Cuddle Blanket

I love the minky and flannel together, so warm, soft, and cuddly. Perfect combination to snuggle with from newborn to toddler!

The Silky Cuddle Blanket

Supplies:

1 yard minky

1 yard flannel

1 package of silk binding

Finished size: (approximate) 38"x46"

• Cut minky to 36"x44", square off the flannel, 1 yard should be approximately 36"x44"
• Manually wrap the silk around the edges, this will give you the length needed. At each corner fold the edge up 2" so there is a total of a 4" loop at each corner. Add a seam allowance and cut so it matches the length you just measured.  
• sew the ends of the silk together.

•  Sandwich the satin between the flannel and minky, right sides together all raw edges matching up.

•  to create the corner fold up the satin 2" at the corner, angle it and fold the other direction. You will have excess satin hanging out
• Sort of ruffle the satin along the corner and pin the "sandwich" in place. Be careful that all folded edges of the corner are tucked neatly in and will NOT get caught in your sewing, however you do want to make sure that ALL of the raw edges get caught
• Pin well!

• Sew all along the edge leaving a 3-4" opening to flip the blanket right side out. Then stitch a narrow seam along the flannel/minky edge all the way around
• All raw edges on the satin will be hidden, and you will only see the one seam where you sewed the edges together!

I have an embroidery machine, so I love to personalize the gift. You could also hand applique or hand embroider and design on

My 3, almost 4 year old fights my 8 month old for the blanket we have like this! Perfect for all little ages :)

Strawberry Shortcake

My dolly wanted to be Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween. We bought the ridiculously priced costume...no wig and tights WAY too small (even though the rest was too big)...so the costume was quickly returned! In place I made her a costume, what a simple costume to make :)

She was ecstatic that by me making it, she could now get the wig! The happy little girl even had pink shoes in her closet :)

Halloween

I'm not good at carving pumpkins. My husband seems to be gone when I feel I want to do pumpkins, so I messily paint them :)  here are my Dolly's painted pumpkins

**It's hard to see from the spray varnish to protect the pumpkin, but there is a face on the left pumpkin, painted by Dolly

I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween - I know we did! It is so wonderful for the kids to be by their grandparents to enjoy these fun times :)

Onesie Stickers

I finally used up all the stickers! Although now I'm sad that she isn't a baby anymore...

These stickers were such a great and fun baby gift to receive :)

Love my grandma's quilt as the background, she made all the grandkids a quilt when we were babies, and now the tradition has continued for her 7 great-grandkids!

Can you tell which month isn't like the other? Yup, that would be the timeframe that we moved and I packed my grandma's quilt before taking the picture! ha! So instead I had to substitute my chenille baby quilt for one!

TracFone

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TracFone for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Who out there doesn’t have a cell phone these days, right!?! But most cell phones are getting more and more expensive and starting to require a data plan (which I couldn’t live without…) BUT if you don’t need all the extras, use a TracFone! My mom has used one for years and refuses to switch, she loves it that she isn’t “tied to it” but has it for emergencies.

 

Other great reasons for a TracFone include:

How about those silly kids that think they HAVE to HAVE a phone, but you don’t want to pay for one? Here is a way they can call you when necessary, you can call them, yet they are limited in how many minutes they use! This keeps costs down, the reason that TracFone is the cheapest way to get a cell phone!

There are no contracts, no credit checks, no activation charges or cancellation fees. You pay only for your minutes, awesome!

The coverage is great, checkout the map!!

There are many brand name phones to choose from including Motorola, Kyocera, LG, Nokia, and Samsung. Phones range from the very simple “Candy Bar” phone to a Bluetooth-enabled “Smart” phone.

Monthly plans are easy. You can pay as you go online or buy cards at thousands of retail stores across the country. 1 year service cards give you more minutes, receive double minutes for the life of your TracFone and 800 minutes for only $119.00 – what a steal!

 “Double Minutes for the life of your Phone” is a feature you can purchase separately for $19.99, although some phones already include it!

 Monthly plans with 200 minutes are under $30, or you can get the plans as cheap as $9.99 for 50 minutes!

Get into Everywhereness

 Even international calls are the same as a normal call, unlike most phones that charge extra!

 

Phones are easy for Senior Citizens, check out the video: Senior Value

Tracfone Has Affordable Options... - Click here for the most popular videos

Onesie Dress Tutorial

A while back I made a sweet little onesie dress for Baby B...so far back that the dress is already packed away as an outgrown item!

Such a fun easy dress to make!

My fabric was 1.5X the width of the onesie waist and 9" long. I was using scraps, so this was all I had. If I were making it for real, make sure the fabric is at least 2X the width of the onesie, mine was a little "tight" around her legs!

1. I don't have a serger, so I used an overlock to seal the edge. I missed taking a picture, but then took a 4" piece of trim, folded it in half, and overlocked stitched the ends together. I then sewed the trim to the bottom of the skirt.
2. I placed the skirt 3" from the leg hole
3. Taking the non sewn side of you fabric panel, run gathering stitch and gather. Pin to the onesie and stitch in place.Place skirt so that wrong side of skirt fabric matches to the right side of the onesie, placed on there looking exactly as you want it to look in the end.
4. Fold the skirt up, we are doing a french seam to cover the raw edges. Stitch just so the raw edges are completely caught in the seam and will not be sticking out.
5. Fold the skirt back down and a perfect clean skirt!

I have seen other methods that would fold the onesie in half with the skirt fabric sandwiched inbetween, also giving a clean skirt without raw edeges, however that decreases the length of the onesie. I have long torso babies, so I prefer this method as it shorted the skirt fabric and not the onesie!

  Not a fan of pictures on this day!

Perfect ot play in my messy living room!

The week of 10-7-11

How did the first week in October fly by already? At what age does time "slow down"?? I want to enjoy my kids before they don't like me anymore, ha!

1. a failed attempt at Cake Pops- up to this point they were PERFECT!!  Homemade Red Velvet mixed with cream cheese frosting...the dipping didn't go so smoothly, but they sure taste fantastic :)
2. The girls playing nicely on the Bouncing Zebra thing
3. My little climber, the first 2 didnt' climb as much as B does!
4. B trying to help...or maybe that's just an excuse to climb in the dishwasher to help unload clean dishes!

Phone Camera Roll:

 A crabby girl refused to nap, playing in my room for an hour and a half, then I found this, ah, peace :)

 Girls Weekend with Fantastic High school friends! So glad we can do this once a year so many years later!

 D was in a parade, she was ducked down pretty low behind the white picket fense though!

 After being gone for two weeks for work, Daddy got some bonding time with H & B, at the park he loved how happy B was and had to share a picture with me!

Poor H had to have 2 teeth pulled. They were baby teeth, but his mouth is too crowded...anyone besides me hear the sound of the orthodontist laughing 10 years from now as he takes my money for overpriced braces?

Quilted Card

Another great scrap buster!

I cut an 8.5x11 piece of card stock in half to make two cards. In 30 seconds you can "quilt" scraps on, and ready to give!

Quick, Easy, Cheap, does it get better? Oh, yeah, they are cute and original too :)

2nd Day Hair

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TRESemmé for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Shampoo

Anyone besides me too lazy to wash their hair every day?!? Chasing after the kids and running to and from activities keeps every mom busy, and I prefer not to wake up any earlier than I have to :)

I also continue to hear that it is good for your hair to NOT wash it every day, that is my rationale for being "lazy" :)

Now...what to do if that hair is a bit greasy? well use TRESemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo of course!

Image Source: TRESemme.com

It is SO easy to use, how to use:

1. Shake the bottle WELL
2. Lift hair in small section and shake underneath each section
3. Spray in Short Bursts, holding 8-12 inches from head.
4. Don't spray all over like hair (all over and continueous)
5. Leave it in 1-2 minutes
6. Use your fingers to distribute the spray evenly
7. If your nozzle clogs, remove the nozzle, rinse it under warm water and then reattch

There is a full line of products to spoil yourself with! There are several dry shampoos to fit your specific needs. They are each “uniquely formulate to absorb excess oil and remove odor” without needing water. Citrus Extracts leave your hair not only clean, but smelling delicious as well!

 

The TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo line includes (as stated on the website):

Strengthening Dry Shampoo: The formula, with B12 vitamins and keratin, helps strengthen hair and leaves it full of healthy body

Volumizing Dry Shampoo: The formula, with mineral clay and citrus, removes oil while injecting hair with salon-gorgeous volume

Smoothing Dry Shampoo: The formula, with Vitamin H & Silk Proteins, refreshes your straight style by removing excess oil, impurities and odor to ensure your smooth look lasts.

Moisturizing Waterless Foam Shampoo: The formula, with Witch Hazel, Citrus, and Aloe Vera, refreshes your hair by removing excess oil, impurities and odor while moisturizing hair.

 

TRESemme has teamed up with celeb Julia Allison to show a tutorial video on how to use TRESemme Fresh Start Dry Shampoo! Check out the video here.

 

**She is also giving away a $500 gift card to Target to one lucky viewer!!

 

TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo

Rainbow Cupcakes

Prior to our Rainbow Birthday Party, we did a "friend" party for just my dolly, and I tested out Rainbow Cupcakes!

These didn't turn out perfect, but the girls loved them, and they were easy.

I only did 4 colors for this one, and used the standard liquid food coloring. If you compare to my rainbow cake, you will see how these definitely were not as brightly colored!

my colors were Red, Orange, Green, Blue...although the orange kind of blended with the red!

Another box mix, separate into 4 equal bowls and color.
Use a spoon to layer into cupcake pans. I tried bags, and found that harder than spooning.
I wasn't perfect with the layers, and they came out with a fun swirl effect.

Happy belated 4th Birthday, Dolly!