Therapy Sacks (aka Wheat Sacks)

I have made these in mass production this year.  I've used these for as long as I can remember.  My hubby loves them, so I figured, they would make great Christmas gifts for the men in my life.  My kids also love them, because it's a great way to keep toes warm at night.

For those of you have never seen them, they are wheat sacks.  You throw them in the microwave for a few minutes, it heats the wheat up and you have a hot pad.  If you throw it in the freezer for awhile, you have a cold compress. 

They are pretty easy to make.  I could go into detail, but you can follow this tutorial and she can guide you.  You don't necessarily need to use flannel, but it is much softer on those sore spots.

Rolled Flower Headbands

For the tutorial, go to this post.

 These are a few that I have made for gifts. I've come along way since I first started making these.  I use all sorts of flowers and embellishments now. Feathers and tulle are my favorites! This is one of my favorites.  I have made about 20 in the last few weeks and each is really different.

 You can make them very simple. Just use the flowers.  The headbands come from here.  Walgreen's also has some that are a bit nicer.  You get 4 for $5.00.  This is the better option if you are just going to make a few.
I also bought some of their Kuffi hats, but beware, they are tiny!  The small size is for newborns and the large, for maybe a toddler.  They fit my 3-year-old, but won't for very long.

I also have made a bunch of these on clips for my littler nieces.  You can get a big box of clips for $5.00 at Sally's or a hair supply company.

Have fun!

Tin Can Bow Holder

These are so easy to make! And chances are, that if your a crafter, you have everything you need at home to make it.  I used an empty #10 can.  I have a nifty can opener, that takes the tops off, so there is no sharp edges.

Simply adhere cute scrapbook paper around the can with modge podge.  Use a hot glue gun to add ribbon running down the sides of the can.  I glued the ribbon just inside the lip of the can and under the bottom. Embellish the top of the can as desired and wala, you have this:

 A cute bow holder that can be kept anywhere.

Inside the can  you put headbands, ponytails, anything that doesn't have a clip.

Homemade Recipe Books

**This week I want to revisit some of our homemade Christmas gifts of the past.  I also have a few new ones to throw in.  It's not to late to make gifts!  Homemade gifts are the best!! This fun little projects was from 2008.**

Mandee and I made these fun recipe books as Christmas gifts for my sister-in-laws. They turned out so nice and were a lot of fun to make. They were also a ton of work. If you were interested in doing this as a gift, start now!!!! You will type and type. And then type some more. That was the most time consuming part of the whole project was typing the recipes. We figure that there was somewhere around 200 recipe's in each book!!

We made 6 of these. I only got pictures of the last three. To make them we got plain 1 inch binders from the dollar store. We used modge podge to make the covers. I love the way modge podge looks!

I messed up when I did the measurements for the inserts. Each insert was made with 8 x 10 dimensions. Now, being the ditsy person that I am, I didn't even think about a regular sheet of paper being 8 & 1/2 by 11. So each page had to be cut down to 8x10 size and so did each page protector. Hence, they took us oodles of time to make. Had I had the dimensions right it would have been much easier. We used 2-sided, coordinating paper for each insert. That way we could get 1 insert out of each page. On the back of each insert we made a pocket by attaching another sheet of card stock that was 8x5. I should have gotten a picture of that, so you could see how cute they were.

I think that they were well received and that everyone liked them. Homemade gifts are always the best gifts. I have already started on next years gift. It's another big one, but I can't share because too many eye's see this blog if you know what I mean!!!!

Emergency Car Care Kit Tutorial

These are stinkin' cute! 

I got one for Christmas last year and I love mine.

I decided to reproduce something similar.

I love the big chunky buttons and the cute potholders.

These cost me $3.50 a piece to make.

First thing will be to find some cute potholders.  The one that I got was a larger sized pot holder, but a standard size will work just as well.  These came Dollar Tree

Take 6 plastic, zipper seal Ziploc and place them inside the potholder.  You will want 3 going out each way.  I hope you can see what I mean in the picture.  Measure your potholder across to find the center.  I used a dry erase marker to draw a line down the center for a sewing guide.

You are going to stitch a zigzag stick right down the center of the bags.  This is kinda hard and I messed up the first one, because the bags are slippery to sew on. 

Go back and trim the excess off of the bottom of each bag.  Trim it as close to the stitching as possible.  Be careful not to cut into the stitching.

Sew a cute chunky button on the outside and now fill it with goodies!  I put in antibacterial wipes from Walgreen's,a couple of Tylenol packets, band aids, tissue, dental picks, safety pins, nail clippers and a file.  You can fill it with whatever you want.  Mine had all of these things plus an emergency sewing kit.  You can also save a slot to put in some cash.  Mine came with a $5.00 bill.

I whipped out 15 of these in 2 hours.  All of the filler came from the dollar store and Walgreen's.  This is an easy present to mass produce if you want to do them for Christmas.Happy sewing

My new Obsession: Fabric Flowers

I'm obsessed! My husband is freaking out and wondering what we are going to do with all of these flowers. He wants me to sell them, but everyone sells them!! I am just having fun.
This was taken about a week ago, there have been oodles more since then!

This is a fun little no sew flower. You can get the template here. These one's actually take a a bit longer than the ruffle flowers, but if your an anti-sewer, these are the ones for you!

These headbands are so much fun and so easy to make! You don't even need to add the flower, but it's fun to add a little something to it. I followed her measurements exactly and apparently I have a big head!! It's squishing my brain!! So I made some more and added about 2 inches in length and now it's almost to big, so maybe just adding 1 & 1/2 inches next time. This one was way cute on my 2-year-old and fit Mandee's little gal who is 7 perfect.

This is my favorite flower. A little bulky. I actually took it apart to make it smaller. My husband thinks this is way to big to wear, but I tried to tell him that it's the style and big is better!

This is perhaps my favorite one I have made and I just gave it to a friend for her birthday!

I know I am a behind in jumping on this train, but I am loving it! There is definite a learning curve on the flowers. I will do a tutorial on one, because I have kind of changed up a few different set's of instructions and have been making my own. Let me experiment a little and then I will share!!

Tile Picture Gifts

I am crazy sharing these because some of my friends and family do read this blog. Some of you may be getting these for Christmas and some may no. But they turned out so cute, so I had to share. Last year Mandee and I did these for our mom's. I took this idea and did a little different twist for some of my friends this year..

I got the idea for the temple pictures from The Idea Door. She has quite a few pictures that you can print out and use for this project. I went to lds.org and pulled off different temples and put them into picnick to edit them. I wanted to do the temple that each couple had been sealed in. For some who haven't been to the temple, I did pictures of just the temple. And for some I did photo's of them and added to the top. Est. and the year they were married.

I was going to do these on wood and use ribbon to tie them, but then I remember the tiles and thought why not? A little less work, no cutting! Mandee had some little tiles so I borrowed some and got to to work. They were a off-white color to start with, but I painted them black and then just modge-podged the picture to the tile. Then I went over it with a couple coats of modge podge. Easy!!

So you'll notice that I have 2 different things going on here. Some of my pictures did not want to print off small enough to go onto the tiles. FRUSTRATION AND TEARS! So I went looking for bigger tiles, but couldn't find what I needed. I was in the dollar store and I saw these cute little Christmas tin decorations and I grabbed some because they were about the right size. Painted them, and did the same thing. I just need to add some ribbon to the wire and they will be ready to go! I just printed these off at home and used paper to print them on . It bubbles. The picture of my friends is really bubbly. I will probably do that one over.(The next morning the air bubbles had worked out and it looks awesome! Patience is a virtue!) Last year when we did the pictures on picture paper, we didn't have that problem. You can use the pictures from lds.org, because they are copyright free, so it would be worth it to print them off at Costco. Believe me, the 13 cents will be worth it.

As an after thought, I believe I will make some gifts out of these, go check out this awesome word art that you could print off and use to make fun sayings. I like this one and this one. Oh, oh and this one! Lot's of options here. Oh, and this is one of my favorites, although who would put this on the wall?Funny stuff!!

Here are a few of the photo's I made up. Feel free to save them and use them, if you'd like.

Marshmallow Roasters

I first of all apologize for the terrible picture. I couldn't get a good shot of these awesome tools. What are they you ask? They are homemade marshmallow roasters. Say goodbye to searching for sticks in the forest. I just used a welding rod, a dowel cut in fourths for handles. I drilled a hole in the top of the dowel and put the rod into the hole. No glue was needed. To make it look a little more rustic we stained the handles. We also made carrying cases for the roasters. Easy project and a great gift!

Real Hero Posters - Book of Mormon Heroe's

This is the coolest thing I have seen in ages!! My friend, Nicole called me tonight and told me to go check it out the web sight, Real Hero Posters. They have 12 amazing posters which feature hero's from the Book of Mormon. Each poster has a scriptural reference to go along with the picture. I am in awe at how cool these posters are! I love this top picture. It's called Daughters in the Wilderness. How often do you hear about the women in the Book of Mormon? I think I am going to have to order some of these. Go check them out. They are absolutely amazing!

Fun Gift Tags

I usually buy fun little gift tags at the dollar store. But I found these and I fell in love with them so I had to share. DARLING! Hopefully you will find something that you like!



I absolutely love this set of fun, colorful gift tags from Martha Stewart. You have to click the link to see them all. I am making these for my kids. They are fun and bright and I love the retro look of some of them!

You may want to try Amy Karol's tags which have witty remarks pre-written. These are HILARIOUS! My favorite one said ~ I love you so much it makes me sick. In a good way. ~ Darling!! I am using these for the adults.

Christmas Traditions

One of the great things about traditions, is they make the best memories. I have carried some of these traditions over into my own family and I have added some of my own. We alway's got to open one present the night before Christmas. I started that tradition with my chilren, but it's alway's pj's, so they look fabulous on Chritmas morning!! We make gingerbread houses, and cinnamon ornaments for our tree every year.

We go to Tuachan and watch the live Nativity. We go to look at lights and go for a walk around the Temple. They have a beautiful Nativity and the Christmas Story from the bible is read over a sound system every 15 minutes. Our family has a traditions of obtaining 1 new Nativity a year. I have a fun plush Nativity that the kids can play with.

We make cookies for Santa and Reindeer food for the Reindeer. The adults have a tradition of going to The Forgotten Carols, and it's something that both Mandee and I look forward to every year. We have some great memories from that night we spend with our extended family. We bake, we make candy, we do the twelve-day's of Christmas! We do all the normal fun stuff. I have more, but this is working out to be the longest post ever so here are a few NEW traditions that might be fun to add to your Holiday season.

Christmas Elf ~ We have a Christmas Elf. He appears on the first day of Christmas and leaves on Christmas Eve. He watched the children to see if they are being good. He doesn't talk, he just listens and then on Christmas Eve he leaves to go tell Santa how good the children have been. He is in a different place every morning. The kids are so excited to find him every morning to see where he sitting for the day..

Dollar Gift ~ If you have a lot of children you'll love this idea. We draw names, even mom and dad do. Then everyone is given one dollar to spend on that person. We usually visit the dollar stores. It's fun to see what everyone can get for a dollar.

Christmas Eve Ornaments ~ On Christmas eve my children get to open their Christmas Eve Ornaments. This is something inexpensive and they love to see their ornaments on the tree every year. I try to put their names/dates on them. when my children grow up they will have a special collection of ornaments to start decorating their own tree with their new family.

I have tons more and will continue to share them as the Holiday's approach! I love this time of year. I can't wait!!! What are some of your favorite Hoilday traditions?

Holiday Idea

I am sooo excited to share this idea with you. As I was coming up with ideas for Super Saturday, I looked over and saw a pile of leftover tiles, and my modge podge (which I love) and just slapped a photo onto the tile . These were a big hit and they were easy and affordable (a whole 1.30).
I just took a 6x6 tile and put a 4x6 photo on it adhering it with modge podge. This is what Brandy and I are doing for the grandparents (hope they don't peek) for Christmas. Some will stand with easels and others we will have hung with a ribbon.
Then I decided to take it a step farther: (second photo)

My mom has antique furniture from the 1800s and before so she doesn't like full glasses to sit directly on her furniture. She has coasters all over so I thought I would make her a set of coasters with her grandchildren on them. I put four coats of modgepodge and finished it with a gloss to give it more protection. I will also put felt rounds on the corners to protect the furniture from scratches. Great idea and I hope they will like it.