Happy St Patrick's Day!!!

Did the Leprechauns come to your house? They came to mine and the Boys were SO excited to see what they left. We got very lucky, and had nice Leprechauns, who did not wreak havoc on my home.  Only my camera, which faithfully TOOK pictures of our festivities, but would not stay alive long enough to upload them to the computer. Blah, the day was coming, but I didn't want it to be today!

Last night, Mr Cyn helped the boys decorate a cardboard box and made it a Leprechaun trap, which was filled with bait...gold paper. I used my trusty Silhouette to cut some small vinyl foot prints and then it was BEDTIME!

When the boys woke up, they found little foot prints by each of their beds, on the doors, walls, and leading right into the trap! They opened the trap, but instead of finding a new little friend, they found all the Gold Nuggets he left behind when he magicked himself out of our trap.

(I am trying really hard to get my image of footprints to load up so I can share, but can't figure it out. If you  have any tips for me to try, leave me a comment!)

A few days ago I happened across Rainbow Waffles, I don't remember who pointed me towards them, but I knew they would be perfect for breakfast!

image source from Random Thoughts of a Super Mom. Please follow the Rainbow Waffles link

Don't they look amazing? I found these and lots of other ideas from Kelli at Random Thoughts of a SuperMom and loved it! They were easy, tasted great, and the boys LOVED them.

For lunch we are sprinkling Leprechaun dust (lime jello mix) on wet apples so we can watch the white powder turn green, and we will be making Kelli's Leprechaun Jello for dessert after our traditional Irish dinner, that is NOT corned beef and cabbage because...blech!

What are your plans today? I wish I had some more pictures for you!! Maybe I can convince Mr Cyn I need a new one...

Valentine's Day Shirt Recap!

Remember when I posted  here about making the boys Vday shirts? I thought I would share the boys in all their masculine Valentine's shirt glory!

I also posted about a little girl shirt I was making for a friend. I turned out great and the little R wore it so well, she looked wonderful in it! The finished front-

The finished back, and an up close of the little bird that covered my mistake.

I really loved how easy these shirts came together, and I loved watching the boys wear them. 

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By the way, I am feeling pretty stoked right now considering I fixed my computer all by myself...finally. The issues seemed to never go away, but after spending two entire days working with it, the issues are resolved and the whole computer is updated. To reward myself, I bought me a Silhouette SD! Woot! I can't wait to get busy with it!

I also have a post in the works from J's birthday party. He looked a stud in his race car shirt and the cake was so fun to make. Check back for it!

Valentines day Shirts

Valentines Day is just around the corner, and it is a FAVORITE holiday around here. My Husband is a romantic and takes any chance he can get to be romantic. I decided the boys need to be Festive on this favorite day as well. Festive, but manly which can be tough to do for Valentines, with all the pink, lace, and hearts around. But I think we managed it. I picked out some sayings that I liked, that were lovey, but not over the top or feminine. The shirts are simple, but I love the way they turned out.

I bought the shirts at Walmart and they are just plain long sleeve tees. I used fabric paint and freezer paper to put my sayings on. Ready to do yours?

I printed off the computer the text I wanted, and then traced it on to freezer paper, with the shiny side down. I don't have a fancy craft cutting machine(despite my best efforts), so I get to do it by hand.

I get to cut it all out by hand too. And that fact essentially changed my plans. I wanted the back of the shirt to say "since 2009" for each of the kids with the year they were born. So it would say, "LOVED, since 2009" But I wanted the back lettering to be small and there was NO WAY I was going to try and cut it out with scissors. 

Position the freezer paper on to your pre-washed shirt with the sticky side down, and iron with no steam. This will seal the freezer paper to your shirt so the paint doesn't run.

Apply one coat of paint at a time, and allow to dry before giving a second coat. The black paint only needed one coat, but the white needed more. See my mistake at the top? I'll show you how I fixed that in a minute.

Once yourpaint is dry, remove the freezer paper. It peels up really easy, just take it slow.

Put a plain press cloth over your painted graphic, and iron again to seal the paint. Then You are Done! The shirt is ready to go and the best part is they are easy, fun, and look great!

Okay, remember my mistake? Some paint dripped right of my brush onto my shirt. I am making this one for a friend's little girl, who happens to be named Robin. I found a very plain image of a robin, shrunk it way down, traced and cut it out, ironed it down and once painted will effectively hide my mistake while looking totally intentional and awesome. Pictures of the finished shirt will be coming in the next few days along with a shot of H wearing his apron and chef hat that I made for Christmas.

Stuffed Snowman Decoration

I LOVE Snowmen at Christmas time and really all winter long. I don't know where this affinity came from, but I can't help myself. My Mom showed me some really cute stuffed pumpkins she made for Halloween this year, and I decided to use the same technique but make a snowman. 

I cut three rectangles from White Sparkled Fabric. Sized as follows:

7" tall by 16" long

6" tall by 14" long

5" tall by 12" long

With Right sides together, sew one seem down the length, making a wide tube. Turn right sides out. Press the folds out of your fabric.

Using a running stitch, gather the bottom of your tube, along the length now. Pull it tight until closed, then secure and knot your thread.

Stuff with Polyfill until your desired firmness is reached. And gather the top closed the same way you gathered the bottom.

It should look like this now. Repeat for all three pieces. **NOTE: For the largest tube you may want to put some rice in the bottom or some other method of weighting so your snowman will stand up.**

Stick a dowel into the small opening left from your gather to give the snowman a form. 

Then hand stitch each ball together. Pull tight so your stitches are invisible.

Add buttons to the middle ball. I used three mismatched buttons.

For arms, I cut a small hole into the second ball on each side.

Fray check your cut so that it doesn't get ruined or frayed over time. Using Hot Glue, stick two small twigs into the openings. Be quick-the glue will dry very quickly so know how you want your arms positioned ahead of time.

I used scrap fleece from the boys' scarves to make a beanie type hat and a scarf for my guy. I didn't want the top hat look for him today, Because should the boys ever make a Snowman of their own outside, he will be beanied. I used some orange felt for a nose and black scraps for the eyes and mouth. All hand stitched after assembly. 

After I was finished I realized that I had not weighted his bottom ball, and he kept tipping over, so I took the lid from an old sour cream container and hot glued his bottom right on for a base. It worked for me, but if you want a different look don't forget the weights!

I love this little guy, and I know I will have him around for years!So, what do you think? Is he a keeper?  

Golf Ball Christmas Tree

Did you get a chance to enter the giveaway for a Treat Bag and Bottle Cover? Enter here!

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I need to brag for a second. I married a wonderful man, who is very supportive of my desire to have this blog. He also has plenty of ideas for me and this time, HE wanted to be the one manning the project. I, of course, was whole-heartedly behind him.

We live near a very nice Nature Park, and it butts right up with a golf course. When the snow melts, the men of the house go almost daily and collect the golf balls the winter has saved up. This results in a large bag of golf balls that we have had for quite some time, being that neither myself or my husband golf. The Mr decided to give some of them up to make a fun Christmas Tree decoration.

Supplies:
A LOT of old Golf Balls
foam Tree
Hot Glue
Spray paint
beads or buttons for decorations
base

Mr started by commandeering an old Paint can lid. Trim the foam tree if necessary and secure to the base. Glue the balls to the base and the tree wrapping around the foam tree. Continue gluing balls around the tree.

When the glue has set, head outside and spray paint the tree with Green paint. Mr intentionally left the top ball off, so that he could use a yellow golf ball as the 'star.'

Allow paint to dry and re-coat if necessary.

Glue adornments, buttons or beads, and string an extra set of small Christmas lights around your tree. OR if you prefer a different look. Simply spray paint green and top with fake snow. I was pleasantly surprised with how well I liked the end result, and the kids loved helping!

Does your husband like helping you craft? I had a lot of fun watching all the guys in my family bond while making this tree, which is exactly what we should be doing during this season of the year.

Holiday Goodie Bags

Yesterday I mentioned goodie bags, and that they are my preferred way to deliver gifts to our neighbors. I think it is more personal than a plain paper plate. I love working on the presentation of my gifts or treats. I spend a lot of time wrapping the gifts for the boys so why not spend time making my homemade treats look just as good? Look how good these cookies look inside their own bag.

TREAT GOODIE BAG

The first one I made was way too small, but the pictures will work the same, just change your measurements. I have the pattern pieces pictured anyway though so you can see the shape to cut.  

CUT: 

2 Rectangles 8 inches x 2 inches

2 each lining and fabric, 9 inches wide x 7 inches long (at the bottom cut out a two inch square from each side. This will make the sides 5" long and the bottom 5" across.)

On the squares that were cut out of each corner, fold them over and line them up, sew down both sides the same way.

It should look like this when you are finished:

Repeat for all four pieces of fabric and lining. Sew the rectangles into tubes with each edge left open, and turn. (not pictured, I forgot. EEK!)

Turn one side of fabric right side out and tuck into the other side. Match the seams you have already sewn and all raw edges. Pin. It should look like this, with right sides inside:

Starting on the side, sew around three sides of your bag, leaving the top open. Turn outer fabric right side out, leave lining right sides together.

Press your tubes flat and pin one tube to each side of the outer fabric, make sure the same side of the tube is pinned on each edge, it gives the handle the right shape when it is finished. Tuck the outside inside the lining, matching raw edges. Sew around the whole edge leaving a small opening to turn the bag right sides out.

Press the edges and top stitch around the entire top of the bag. Fill with goodies and hand out!  See how nice they look? 

Now that  you know what I do with mine, what will you do with yours? Interested in winning one of your own? Stop by tomorrow to find out how. 

Never miss an update! Follow us with Google or Like us on FB! I have lots of plans for this month and several more giveaways in the works if this one goes well!

Sparkling Cider Bottle Cover

I love sharing treats with the neighbors during the Holidays, but I often feel that a paper plate leaves a lot to be desired. I find it lacks visual appeal and isn't very personal. Stop by tomorrow to see how I personalize and hand out my goodies!

Holidays growing up always included Sparkling Apple Cider and in recent years have expanded to include many of the newer flavors, Apple Cranberry being my new favorite.  I enjoy taking a bottle along with me to parties and as I visit with dear friends this month. It lets them know that they are on my mind this holiday season. But I don't want to take a naked bottle with me, and so I ventured into bag making. It doesn't take a lot of time, but it does make the gift a more personal.

CIDER BOTTLE COVER

I measured my bottle, and used a ruler to make a pattern 12 inches wide by 11.5 inches tall. I also cut out a circle with a 4 inch diameters for the bottom.

I cut out one rectangle and one circle of each lining and fabric.

Fold each rectangle in half, right sides together, matching 12" sides.  Leave an opening 1/2 inch down from the top, 3/4 inch to 1" long, on the outer fabric only. See it between the pins? You should now have two tubes.

Pin the circle to the bottom of each tube, with right sides together. Sew around the whole circle.

You should now have two tubes with round bottoms. Turn the outer fabric right side out. 

Tuck the outside into the lining. Match raw edges and pin. Stitch around with a 3/8 inch seam allowance. Leave an opening to turn right sides out, X marks the spot.

Turn right sides out, and tuck lining inside. Match the tops, and press.

After pressing, line up the open hole, pin it closed and top stitch all the way around the top.   (NOTE: See the difference pressing makes?)

Below the opening left in the outer seam, top stitch again all the way around. This will leave enough room to run a ribbon through and cinch your bag closed. Using a safety pin, pull your ribbon through the opening in the side seam, go all the way around once, pass your opening, and take your ribbon around a second time. The second pass is what keeps your cinch tight.

(Top stitches are pictured on the lining so the thread is visible)

Put your cider in the bag and you are ready to go! These are so fast and easy to whip up and adds a nice customization to your Hostess gift! Check back tomorrow for another great neighbor gift and a giveaway on Saturday!