Blog Swap With Ginger

We are so excited to share a new friend of ours with you today!  She's super sweet--absolutely gorgeous--and makes rad crafts!  In fact she's doing a back to school month that just started this week on her blog.  So check her out--you won't be sorry!

Hi!  I'm Ginger, & I blog over at Ginger Snap Crafts. 

I'm so excited to be over here visiting today. 

I love doing blog swaps.  It's so fun "meeting" new friends. 

So don't be shy!  Make sure you hop over to my blog today

to see what Juliana & Becky are sharing & don't forget to say hi!

 

 

This me & my beautiful girls!  I also have a handsome husband & 3 rough & tumble boys! 

{I love my family!} I've been blogging for about 4 years, and I just recently started my own craft blog. 

Our family blog was getting a little too crafty!  I'm really having a lot of fun with it! :)

My kiddos started school last week.  So I've had back to school on the brain A LOT!

Today I'd thought it would be fun to share with you this cute & easy back to school teacher gift!

This pencil holder is personalized with

our school colors, name & mascot!

{Use your imagination to come up with something that fits your school.}

Here's how I made ours:

1. Cut a two x four into 7 inch blocks.

2. Had the hubby drill some pencil sized holes along the top!

{Try to make sure they are all the same depth, so your pencils will be even.}

3. Painted the blocks black.

{I love this brand of paint!  It's the best!}

4. Applied my vinyl lettering.

Then the overlay.

5. Tied a bow around the top.

6. Stuck in my pencils.

 {How easy is that?}

All done!

I'll be sharing this & other fun back to school ideas

all September long over on my blog, Ginger Snap Crafts.

{I'll even have a link party open all month long

so YOU can share your back to school ideas.}

So come on over & follow along.  It will be fun! :)

Thanks so much for having me over, ladies. :)

{I really enjoyed it!}

Fabric Paper Dolls

A couple weeks ago my SIL paid us a 'lil visit.  And she came bearing my 3 year old daughter Birthday gifts.....Fabric Paper Dolls.  She even made this DARLING take along case so the girls could bring them along with them anywhere we go; which they totally do!  It was really funny actually because my 4 year old kept saying to her younger sister, 'You are going to share with me right?  I always share with you...We can play nicely together right?"  She's getting good at talking her little sister into things--great negotiator!

 Anyway, since then, I have literally made 50 more dolls--they are addictive, darling, and ridiculously easy to make--need I say more?

 All my SIL did was buy some cute fabric with these amazing paper dolls--cut them out--and ironed them onto some iron-on fusible web--the thicker the better.  That's it!

 So, here's a different line I found of Paper dolls....

 And here's another one:

 See all the cute fabric out there?!  Such a cute and easy project!  I have already told my own mom to give me some granddaughters for Christmas because I NEED to make some of these for them.  And these really are the best church toy in the entire world!  Need a quiet time activity for the girlies?  Seriously--these are the best things ever!

So, thanks Nicole for hooking a sista up!  We obviously ALL are in LOVE!

Can't Get Enough!

I've been on a roll...seriously, I can't stop making these necklaces.  There are just so many obsessively cute possibilities!!  I got on a bit of a Pink Kick, and also let myself get inspired for the Holiday's!!  Seriously--you HAVE to check out the OWLS!  They are to Die for!

Princess:

 Sunday Glam:

 I Heart Pink:

 Stripes:

 Pink Power:

 Rockin' Owl:

Fall Friend:

 We Believe In Santa:

There will definitely be more of these, especially for the Fall.  See why it's been so hard for me to do anything else?  They are just too darling and too fun!  And when you have two girls who squeal with excitement when you show them the new one you made for them--what can you do but make more?  

These are all available at our Etsy Shop so feel free to finish up your school shopping or start up on those Christmas Gifts!  

Canvas Bow Holder Tutorial

I LOVE RIBBON....I'm serious.....My Stash of ribbon was getting to be embarassing--ok it was embarassing a LONG time ago but now it's not quite as embarassing:)  So, like I told you before, we moved into a new house!  And since I know I'm decorating my girlies bedroom in Mary Engelbreit stuff I figured I could make some Bow holders for their bathroom(FINALLY! The girls bow stash is almost as bad as my ribbon stash)  Hence--I got to use some of my fabulous ribbon and organize the girls bows with this awesome Canvas Bow Holder Tutorial Juliana and I came up with:)  

Whatcha Need:

-Ribbons and/or trims--all different sizes and in the color schemes you want. (Is it embarassing to admit that I didn't have to buy ANY ribbon to make my Bow Holders?  Is it crazy that I had it all on hand? :)

-Canvas--Any size you like--My favorite sizes are 18x24 or 12x24 but really, any size works....In this tutorial I used the 18x24.  Michael's Craft Store is a GREAT place to find canvases--they are always going on sale there, and they have tons of different sizes to choose from!

-Glue Gun and Hot Glue

-Scissors

-Staple Gun and Staples(optional)

-Chair Felt Pads--circular(optional)

Step 1.  Pick out the ribbon and trim you want to use.  Lay it out on your canvas to give you an idea of what it will look like.  You can use as much or as little ribbon as you like.  I used 16 pieces of ribbon or trim for mine. :)

 Step 2.  Take it off the canvas and lay it out in order.

 Step 3.  One by one, lay the ribbon or trim on your canvas and fold it over the edge and glue it to the canvas on the back.  The front of your canvas should now look like this:

 The Back of your canvas should now look like this:

 To give you a closer look:

 Step 4.  Optional:  Use your staple gun and staple down each ribbon or trim on both sides.  This isn't a NEED but it does make your ribbon more sturdy.  I promise it isn't going to come off if you do this!

 Step 5.  Optional: Cover your ribbons with another ribbon on the back and glue it down--to hide your staples....I do this when I'm selling my Bow holders, but I didn't do it on the ones I'm hanging up in my house...  No one sees it!  It just hangs up against the wall--but if you want it to be pretty front and back--this is a great way to hide it!

Step 6. Optional: Add chair felt pads to the corners of your canvas so it doesn't rub against the wall.

Viola!  You are done!  Now go get all your bows and clip them onto the ribbons and trims!  Cute, No?

 Here's a pic with only the flower clips I have in the colors that match my Bow Holder:)

 Here it is with all my Flower clips:)  See, you can get a TON on there!

 I actually made two coordinating bow holders because I have bows and flower clips--trying to be organized remember?  It's fantastic because it organizes your bows and it's super cute as a decoration!  (sorry for the yucky picture--the girls bathroom is seriously a cave--no natural light!)  See, economical and darling!

  Here are a few others that we have made for jujuB parties just to give you an idea of all the different combinations you could make!

If you love how these look but don't want to make one--obviously, let jujuB know!  Email us or send us a convo on our Etsy Shop with any questions you have!  Help me get rid of some of my ribbon stash please:)  Happy Ribbon hunting!

Pendant Lantern

Thanks for submitting this tutorial to us Georgina! I love the pendant going around the lantern. I love pendants!!! This would be such a cute idea for a kids room or a party. My favorite thing about this tutorial is you can use your SCRAPS!!!! Heck yeah!!! I love tutorials to help me use all the tinny pieces of cute fabric I just can't part with. And no, Georgina you are not the only one who holds on to fabric, down to the very last piece. (You should see Becky's MONSTER collection!!! ;)  ) Check it out at

Bunting Lantern

Color Book

As I prepare to teach my little one preschool this year I wanted to make a fun color book that we could look at to review colors. Children learn so much better when you include more then one way of learning. For example show them a picture of a dinosaur (visual) then have them act out how to be a dinosaur (physical). So how do teach colors using different senses? Add TEXTURE!!!!! This color book is all about texture, so as your child is looking at the picture (visual) they can also feel different textures (tactile)! I made this great book using random stuff I found all around my house and I'm sure you have a lot of this stuff in your house too!!

I had little color wands left over from our preschool curriculum last year so I cut up some old page protectors and sewed them on to make a pocket for the wand. Then I sewed on some super cute ribbon on the edges to make it cute. Then I sewed 2 pieces of paper together to hide the sewing and to make my pages more sturdy. Lastly, I just hot glued everything on the pages. I had a great color sticker book that I used a lot, but you could also use pictures from a coloring book or picture book. 

The ribbon was seriously my favorite thing about this book. Isn't it awesome!!!

Yellow Page

Texture: yarn, a straw and a sponge!

Green Page

Texture: a left over piece of felt

Blue Page

Texture: Wands

Red Page

Texture: Ribbon

Orange Page

Texture: popsicle stick, bead, paper flower

Pink Page

Texture: buttons

Purple Page

Texture: pipe cleaner

Brown Page

Texture:  burlap

Black Page

Texture: lace

White Page

Texture: shoe lace