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Teacher Appreciation

Its the that time of year again when we show our teachers just how amazing they are and just how much we love them!

Here are some fun ideas!

~ Candy Topiary ~

Styrofoam ball, wooden dowel, flower pot/bucket/small container, straight pins and/or hot glue and wrapped candy..... That's its! That's all you need to create this darling little gift!

~ Bloomin' Candy ~

The theme for this year was secret garden so I chose to do candy bar flower pots. Its a little hard to see, but the tag says "Thanks So Much!"

I filled terracotta pots with oasis and them glued candy bars onto BBQ skewers and stuck them down in the pots. I used a little moss on the top of the the oasis and then added a cute cheery flower. The teachers LOVED these!

~ Clipboard Frames ~

I painted a clipboard and added a little bling on the clip with sugar glitter. The word cherish was chosen specifically for this teacher, but the sky's the limit here, decorate to your hearts content!

Freezer Meals from Martha

I LOVE this!

Summers coming and everybody will be going a mile-a-minute so making meals that can be frozen and reheated later is perfect!

Martha has 18 freezer meal ideas that look really yummy!

Rag Rug Tutorial

I've used almost all of my jeans so I took a trip to the local goodwill store and went on a denim hunt. I originally looked in the pants area but then I saw dresses! Yes, denim dresses! I was able to buy several dresses for $3 each. Geez, I almost felt guilty. Then I whipped out my cutter and went to town. I cut strips about an inch wide. I don't use an edge to cut against because if its not completely straight or even, it doesn't matter! I love that! So Easy. Next I have to tie my strips together so I take two of them and cut a small vertical slit in the end of each.

I stack the strips on top of each other as pictured above and then take the end of the strip that's on top and pull it up through the bottom. Pull the full length through until you reach the end and it creates a perfectly flat little knot.

I repeat this until I have all of them hooked together, now I am ready to begin. As you can see I use a GIANT hook. I have no idea what size it is other than its gigantic and blue. This rug is going to be rectangular so I chain a length that will be the short side of my rectangle.

Once I chain the length I need I turn it around and double crochet back down in every chain stitch. When I reach the end (which is actually the very very beginning) I chain three and begin to double crochet back down the other way. I repeat this process until my rug is the right size. (You wont believe how quick this project comes together!)

Here are a couple of tips:

~ You can use any type of denim however a thinner or distressed denim is a little easier to work with or if your denim has a little stretch to it.

~ Thinner or distressed denim is also very easy to tear rather than having to cut. This last dress that I bought was very thin so I made a little cut at the bottom and just ripped the fabric into strips. This also takes much less time than cutting with scissors or rotary cutter.

~ If you are using old jeans (pants) the easiest way to cut them is to first cut the legs off as high on the hip as possible. Now you will have a long tube of denim (the leg of the pants) begin at the top (thigh area) and cut a spiral all the way around and down the tube until you reach the bottom. This way you don't have to tie them together.

~ Usually when I crochet its quite tight but that doesn't fly on this project so remember to keep it loose.

(If this is all very confusing please PLEASE contact me and I will help you through it!)

 How to join your strips of fabric.....

Ok, I tried to post a video but my laptop just wasn't having it so let me see if I can talk you through it..... 

After you have cut the slits/holes in your fabric lay the fabric strips one going north and one going

south with the holes aligned.

  Holding the two strips in your left hand and with your right hand find the end of the strip that's on the top, pull the end of the top fabric up through the hole from underneath

Now just pull on the end of the top fabric and give a little tug, it will look like its kind of turning itself inside out.

I hope this helps.  I struggled with this in the beginning too, I just couldn't figure it out!  Please let me know if you need more instructions.  I will try to get a video up as soon as possible.

 

Denim Rag Rug for the bathroom

I think I've gone a little rag rug crazy.

I love these things!

I've started on another rug and a tutorial as well, I hope to have it posted by this evening!

I FOUND IT!

Denim Rag Rug

Oh my goodness I was inspired by my charger project and this is the result. I ended up making a rug out of old jeans and I LOVE it. It has a beachy/pottery barn-ish feel that will be perfect for Chance's bathroom. I cant believe how quick and easy the whole thing came together, I finished it within a couple hours!

This project just screams 'Dough-Style!'

Please note that the bandages on my hands are NOT from this project. Over the weekend I was involved in another battle with my glue gun. Needless to say I didn't win, again.

(Yup, still using my cell phone for pictures. What in the world did I do with my camera battery charger!!!!????)

Mothers Day Gift Ideas

I love to give cookbooks as gifts so when I saw this sale I just had to share!

I'm going to grab a few of these books and just keep them on hand to give as gifts as needed. There's always a birthday popping up here and there and its good to be prepared.

Check out Shop Taste of Home for all of their sale items.

http://www.shoptasteofhome.com/Sale-Items/CLR,default,sc.html

Denim chargers

Summer is coming and I needed some new fun and practical chargers that will work outdoors as well as indoors and also agree with my boys style too.

Hmmmm........

Hello DENIM!

I save all old jeans because they are perfect for quilts, curtains, pillows, rugs and yes, now chargers too. They turned out perfect and I can just throw them in the washer when needed.

Ok, bring on summer!

All I did was cut my denim into strips and just started crocheting them into round chargers. In the beginning it looked like a huge mess of denim but I didn't give up and after the first time around I began to see that it was going to work! Yay! Using my giant hook (exact size unknown) I used a double crochet stitch to go around and around in a circle until I reached the right size. So EASY! The only trick here..... Loose stitches! Typically I crochet quite tight but that doesn't fly when using denim so remember loosey goosey ladies!