Little House

My Elle loves... I mean really reeeeeally loves... to read!  I've had so much fun introducing her to some of my favorite childhood reads like Ramona Quimby, Charolette's Web, and Little House on the Prairie.  The latter sparked lots of questions about pioneer life, like how they made things without machines, what it was like to live without a car, and on and on.  We were all too happy to indulge her curiousity with a trip to a pioneer festival. It also happened to be the perfect excuse to make adorable pioneer outfits for both my girls.

 

I made Elle's skirt from some pioneer-ish fabric I picked up on the cheap at Jo-Anne's, an easy white apron, and used this tutorial for the bonnet.  I couldn't resist the ruffly cute white bonnet Grandma's Girl made, and had to have it for Liv. Her super simple white dress with little cap sleeves and drawstring neck completed their pioneer transformation.

 

We had lots of fun at the festival!  Elle's favorite parts were selecting angora fur died just the right shades of pink and watching as it was spun on an antique wheel into a lovely yarn to be used for a future project and the highschool xylophone band.  

 

Winner winner chicken dinner

Ok I don't have anything to post about a chicken dinner, but that would be great right?! I'm totally gonna do that next time... have a post for you with a chicken dinner recipe when I announce the winner of a blog giveaway. Ok ok enough silliness let's get to it. The winner of the My Memories digital scrapbooking software, by random drawing is:

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 13
Result: 11
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Traci that's you! Thanks for entering, I'll contact you via email with the details.

Digital Scrapbooking Giveaway!

I've mentioned before, ages ago, that in my life before sewing & children & bentos & printables & parties my creative outlet was scrapbooking.  The 14 scrapbooks I've created cronical my highschool days, my early relationship with my now husband, and our girls' first years.  They are among my most prized posessions; I wouldn't trade them for the world.  BUT truth be told, I don't get as much enjoyment out of scrapbooking as I do my other creative endevours.  In fact, I had given it up all together.  I think scrapbooking didn't hold my attention because I like structure, following directions, and innovation, mixed in with just a bit of creativity and a teeny tiny dose artistic flair... scrapbooking requries a good healthy dose of artistic flair... a little too much for my liking.

My Memories has changed all that.  I am now free to rejoin the world of scrapbooking and you are too... especially if you're like me and are creative but not necessarily artistic (it's a fine line but it does exist!).  My Memories Suite really couldn't be easier to use.  This digital scrapbooking software comes with album designs already loaded into it, you just insert your pictures, and waalaa:

Really!  Ok, so that's the "I did virtually no work on my own, I barely understand how the software works, I just want it to be quick and done" way of using My Memories Suite. But there is so much more to this software if you want to take it to the next level!  You can bring in your own images that you've collected from the internet or clip art or scan yourself to use as embellishments and backgrounds (which means you don't have to buy expensive digital kits), there's photo editing built right into the software, so you can make a picture black & white, give it an effect, and remove red eye right there as you build your album, and when you're done you can save your album as a jpg, email it, and/or have it printed wherever you'd like.

I'm really excited about using My Memories Suite (more pages are sure to pop up here on my blog as I make my way through our family photos) but I'm equally as excited that I get to give away My Memories Suite to one of my readers!  Yep, the $40 My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software AND $10 to use in the My Memories shop (you can buy digital scrapbook elements and printing services) to one lucky reader!

I'm going to give you lots of chances to win.  Do any (or all!) of the following and leave a separate comment here on this post for each.  1 week from today I'll pick the winning comment by random drawing.  Here's how to enter:

• Follow my blog via email or Google Reader (link in the margin to the right)
• Follow my blog via Facebook (link in the margin to the right)
• Check out the digital paper packs at My Memories and leave a comment here telling me which is your favorite
• Follow the My Memories blog 

Good luck!  Oh, and if you're not familiar with digital scrapbooking software you can watch some tutorials on My Memories Suite and catch the digital scrapbooking bug!

Zipper Pulls & Your Way Wednesday

I should preface this with the fact that calling these "zipper pulls" is a little misleading. You really shouldn't be actually pulling zippers with these... They're more like zipper decorations. However, it wouldn't take much modification to make these durable enough to withstand kid abuse. Now that that's out of the way... check out the back-to-school project Elle and I made:

We started with cute "already ready for crafting with" bottle cap tops in a fun pink that we picked up at Michael's (They even had holes pre-drilled in them). You'll also need white glue, jump rings & lobster clasps, clear casting epoxy, and an assortment of papers and embellishments. A circle punch and some play dough is also helpful, but optional.

First punch and glue circles of scrapbook paper into the bottom of your caps. Next, paint a couple thin layers of glue on the top of the paper to seal it and prevent the epoxy from soaking the paper.

 

Follow the instructions that come with the epoxy and pour it into the caps. This is where the play dough comes in... the holes in the caps were pretty big which made for a huge mess when I poured the epoxy. About half way through I decided to try smooshing the caps down into a ball of play dough which kept them level while the epoxy dried but also plugged the holes. I'll admit though that idea didn't come to me until some epoxy had already seeped out of the caps I was working on, so I have as yet to test my play dough smooshing theory completely. If you don't have play dough, just only fill the caps to the bottom of the holes.

Once your epoxy is completely dry, attach a jump ring and lobster clasp so your favorite off to school kiddo can clip it to their back pack or lunchbox or hoodie whatever strikes their fancy.

One last bit of warning... The pull is only as strong as the jump ring you used to attach it with, so you may want to try an alternative to the jump ring... I considered a hair elastic, ribbon, jelly bracelet, or key ring.

It's your turn!

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Your Way Wednesday

Did you see this adorable dress The Little Giggler linked up last week? This is the perfect way to do "branded/character" clothes... handmade from a super sweet pattern and paired with a fun print! The wonky dots are just so right for the whimsical Dr. Suess!

Now it's your turn!



Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

HELLO my name is

Standing at the front door, pigtails pulled tight, brand new tennis shoes, and that “anxious about the first day of school” look is a photo op that just can’t be missed! Our oldest starts kindergarten this year and her little sister will be in tow for half days in the toddler program. Elle wore a shirt with her name on it for her first day of preschool last year and I thought I’d continue that tradition, so I spent a couple days considering various appliqué and embroidery designs for the shirts. When this idea came to me, I laughed out loud at the thought of how stinkin’ cute the two of them would be standing hand-in-hand wearing these T-shirts I made for them.

 

I’ve never done iron-ons before & was surprised at how easy it is! I picked up a pack of the iron-on paper you can run through your ink-jet printer (I got the one designed for dark fabrics so that it would look like an actual sticker on the shirt) at Jo-Anns, designed the “Hello my name is” label in Illustrator, and then just followed the instructions for printing and ironing it on to the Ts.

 

Think my girls will let me get away with antics like this every year for the first day of school?

Your Way Wednesday

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Crepe Paper Dessert Table

So what's a girl to do when she has a dessert table to design and needs a background that will make a statement but she set a limit of $100 for the party?!  Crepe paper of course!

 

Here's how easy it is.  You just need 2 pieces of trim (they'll even cut it for you at Home Depot if you wonder around looking especially desperate in the trim aisle).  I used a 4 ft table for the icecream sandwich bar, so I had them cut two pieces of trim - a 6 ft piece and a 4 ft piece.  Once you cram the pieces of trim into your husband's Sonata and make it home, you'll tape lengths of crepe paper side-by-side in an orderly fashion all along the trim.

 

If you're lucky enough to have a giant framed print hanging precisely where you want the crepe paper wall, you'll just use the hooks that you hung the print from to hold the pieces of trim.  If you're not quite so lucky, you'll need to use 3M tape to attach the trim to the wall.

 

Then it's just a matter of twist twist twist tape, the next piece just tape, then twist twist twist tape, just tape etc. on and on until you have this:

 

Next I covered the table with a plastic tablecloth and strung a piece of clear packing tape between the bottom of the front two table legs sticky side out.  Repeat the lengths of crepe paper taped side-by-side application on the 2nd piece of trim and attach it to the front of the table with 3M tape. Then twist twist stick to the packing tape, next piece just stick to the packing tape, twist twist stick, just stick etc. etc. etc.

 

What do you think?

Your Way Wednesday

It's been entirely too long since I featured my favorite links from the weekly Your Way Wednesday posts I do.  So, here you have it, my faves and this week's Your Way Wednesday link party.  Don't forget to check out my Link Parties I <3 link on the right margin.  If you host a link party please add it to the page, I'll link up!

1. This "notebook paper" canvas is such a great idea for college students!

2. I, like everyone else, have a thing for chevron lately! This frame and super cute printable are perfect!

3. Did I mention my thing for chevrons?  Check out this amazing zig zag quilt!

4. You just can't have too many kid size tote bags!

5. So love the fabric and fun ruffle detail of this peasant dress!

6. This routine clock is seriously genius for the little kid crowd!

7. Take advantage of the last couple weeks of summer to do these great ideas for summer time fun with your kiddos!

8. Okay okay this is my idea... yes that's sort of cheating, but I needed an even number for this lovely collage.  Did you check out the toddler lapdesks I made from dollar store finds?

Crafting is my way to relieve stress & stretch my creative muscles.
Sewing is my way to have some uninterrupted time to myself.
Bentos are my way to show Elle I'm thinking about her.
Parties are my way to love on my girls & our friends
Tutorials show my way of making this or that.

Now I want to see your way!

Only two rules for you:

• Add my lovely "Your Way Wednesday" button to your blog or blog post that you link up to
• Please link directly to your blog post, not a giveaway, your link party, your Etsy shop, or even just the home page of your blog.

<br /> <center><a href="http://ellebellecreative.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="Link up you latest project every Wednesday on the Elle Belle Creative Your Way Wednesday link party!" src="http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l639/ebcreative/finalYWWbutton.jpg" /></a></center>

Balloon Wreath

If you like party blogs even half as much as I do you've seen the balloon wreath.  Here's the thing, I hadn't bothered to read an actual tutorial on how to make it until after I bought the stuff I thought I needed to make it and was half way through the project.  Apparently I'm some sort of strange crafting outsider because I just assumed it was made a completely different way than I later found out everyone is making it.  So, if you want to be weird like me, you can make it my way with a wire wreath form & a few bags of balloons:

Yeah, so that's it... just tie the balloons onto the wreath form... the end.  The only interesting things worth even mentioning are that I followed the same pattern (red, yellow, blue, repeat) and I skipped one of the wire rows that was close to the others... which I decided on just because the wreath was full enough without it and it was getting hard to tie the balloons on when they were too close to the other knots.

Oh and of course I should mention the adorable custom birthday hat cutie in the center... my Little Liv!  I'll turn your birthday girl or boy into a party decoration too, check out the listing in my shop here.