Today I Made...

...twenty of these little pretties. This is the easiest and most fun project I have ever done. Really. Etsy is a great resource when you are looking to do any jewelry or hair related project. You can find so many shops that sell the floral cabochons and even more shops that sell jewelry bits at great prices. I made these in 15 different colors. The five pictured just happened to be my favorites. It took me no time at all.To bad these babies are all being given away this week. I guess I'll just have to order me up some more supplies to make more. I think they are just so pretty and dainty.

A Time Waster

I found the perfect time waster. If you go to this site make sure that you don't have anything else to do cause it might just suck you in (Miss.S has been a little under the weather... we stayed in today). I love colors and patterns. This combines both brilliantly. Go play at BgPatterns.com.Found via How About Orange

Hair Clip Tutorial Revisited

I remember a long time ago I planned on reposting all of the tutorials from Absolutely Cheesy on this blog. I got around to doing the Applique with a few modifications, but then didn't do any others. So here is the hair clip tutorial. It reminds me that I haven't made any recently, and all of Miss.S's are starting to look a little worn. So maybe I should make her a whole new batch. Enjoy!
For my baby shower one of my good friends gave me a set of these hair clips. They were one of my favorite things to receive, and now I give them away at all the baby girl showers I go to. I love them and they are so easy to make. You can easily whip out a set of 10 in a half hour. This is a tutorial on the "easy" way to make them. Meaning with a glue gun. If you are too good for a glue gun then I can't help you. There will be no hand sewing hair clips today.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a writer. I don't do grammar, spelling, and all that nonsense. So please don't be offended if my writing is bad. Also I'm not a very good photographer. Enjoy!

Materials
Hair Clips (box of 100 $4.99 @ Sally Beauty Supply)
Glue Gun
Ribbon
Scrap Booking Brads
Silk Flowers


1. Cut length of ribbon. About 4.5 inches.
2. Clip the hair clip onto ribbon length wise.



3. Glue top of clip over opening. Fold ribbon over being sure to keep flat and straight. This will seal inside and outside of the top of clip together.






4. Glue end of clip and push ribbon in to cover the part you pinch.







5. Glue back side of the pincher and fold ribbon over to finish. I like to keep the main part of the back of clip plain because I feel like it grips the hair better. You can cover it if you would like, but it doesn't really show.




6. Deconstruct your silk flower. Throw away the center but keep everything else.






7. Arrange petals and pick out a scrapbooking Brad. Stick the prongs of your brad through the center of your petals. If you feel like your petals are lying too flat then you can use the extra plastic piece from your silk flower to add some lift. I usually like to use 2-3 layers of petals. You can make them as big or as small as you would like.


8. When you get your flowers looking the way you would like them too glue to the top center of your ribbon covered clip.






That's it you are done (see photo at the top of post). I use a lot of variations on this idea. For lazy days when I just put the munchkin in a onesie I will use a clip that is just covered in ribbon. For church I use the flowers or I have made them with bows too. You can put anything on these babies and they will look adorable. But my favorites are the flowers!

And yes I am having a giveaway. The lucky winner will win a set of 10 clips. 4 flowers, 3 ribbon, and 3 bows. So leave a comment below, and link this post to your blog or website. Do this by Monday Sept. 1. The winner will be announced on Tuesday Sept. 2. Anyone can enter and the winner is chosen randomly by my DH out of a hat.

Make some! You will be surprised by how easy they are and how cute they will look in your kiddos hair!

Deep In The Heart

People in Texas have a lot of pride in their state. That's one thing I really like about living here. I've lived here for about two years now, and truely love it. So to commemorate our two year Texas anniversary here are some things I've found on Etsy that I think any true Texan would adore.
Texas Pillow found on Love California a little ironic since we moved here from California.Don't Mess With Texans Necklace found on kalliARTTexas Letterpress found on 1canoe2San Antonio Skyline notecards found on Architette also available in Dallas, Houston, and Austin.

I pretty much want all of these things! We really have grown to love Texas and are happy to live in a state with such pride.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

A couple of days ago Miss S (or shall we call her Super S) looked at me, and with a very serious expression on her face she told me "Mommy I want to make something important". It made my heart melt. My first thought was Oh how I hope she does someday. I hope she makes something or says something or does something very important. I'm not sure she really understood what she said. Does she really know what the word important means? She is only two after all. I'm just going to pretend that she fully meant what she said though. The mind of a child is a wonderful thing. The future is far away and they get to dream so big.

It got me thinking about myself though. I turn thirty in about three months. I've always looked forward to this birthday. Instead of dreading it. It makes me think though at twenty nine have I done anything important. I thought about the first eighteen years of my life and thought about how badly I messed them up. Then I thought about the next seven or so years and how they progressively got better. Then it dawned on me. I have done two very important things in my life and nothing else matters to me at this point. I married a wonderful man and created a perfect little girl. A little girl who is the most important thing I have done yet. Thank goodness for children who remind us in small ways how wonderful life is. How even the smallest acts can be very important.

You Brightened My Day

Not that my day was off to a bad start. It wasn't. It was just shaping up to be an average one. Until I checked my mailbox at lunch . I have been waiting with baited breath for my winnings to arrive. You might be thinking "What's that she said? Winnings?". You got it. I won something for the first time in my life! The best part is YOU can win something fantastic too. I heard about The Bright Side Project a while ago. Maybe spring of last year. I entered several of their fantastic giveaways (they have one everyday). Then in November the Granddaddy of all giveaways, the giveaway that made my heart skip a beat showed up on my google reader. A chance to win not one but two gift certificates to Lisa Leonard Designs. I entered thinking "I'm not really going to win this but I have to try anyway". Well much to my amazment I did win. And you know what? It did brighten my day, and month actually, and now that today has rolled around it brightened my day all over again. Because I got this little lovely in my mailbox.Isn't it pretty. I love it so much I'm not going to take it off for a long time. Probably not until I get the Heart Strings necklace that just appeared on her website. *Hint Hint Honey. This little number is called the Family Crest necklace. Go to her website. Buy beautiful things. Go to The Bright Side Project. Win beautiful things. You will be so happy you did.

Oh and in case you were wondering. I gave the second gift certificate to my amazing big sister. She just had baby number three. A little girl named Eli (cute huh?). I thought she definitely needed some Mommy jewelry. A Christmas/Push Present (wait are those only from the Daddy?).

I Love A Fresh Start

I love what a New Year brings. A fresh start. A chance to look back on your accomplishments the previous year, but also an opportunity to look forward to where you want to go next in life. Last year I made a list of what I wanted to do in 2009. I achieved about a quarter of my list. Hey a quarter is better than nothing right? This year maybe I'll get to a third.In 2010 I want to sew a lot more and become a lot better. I want to organize my home and keep it that way. I want to make my bed more often. I want to laugh more and cry less. I hope to get my eating habits under control and work out more. I hope to read more scriptures and pray a little harder. It would be nice to maybe add one more to our little family. I want to spend more time in the Hill Country and at the beach. I want to breath in and relax a lot more. I hope to get things done and not stress about them. I want to love life and be happy now. I hope 2010 is my best year yet and yours too!