Mother's Day Gift Idea: E Reader Cases

Looking for a super cute handmade gift for Mother's Day? I know a lot of people like to make their gifts or gift handmade items so I thought I would share one of my favorite etsy purchases from this year so far.

For Christmas my daughter and I both got Kindles, which will do our home a lot of good since her and I are huge readers and every room seems to have books stored in some way or another. ;)  I looked on Amazon at all the covers there and also at a few stores near our house but we could not find anything that we really liked.  I really wanted to get my daughter a cover asap because I was worried something would happen to hers since she takes it everywhere with her...hence the chain store shopping.  But after the huge let down in selection I decided to go on etsy since I had already found some on there that I liked for me.

I got these two for us at Janine King Designs , mine is the adorable retro inspired floral print and my daughter picked out the fun whimsical floral bird one for herself.  I love these cases so much and am so happy with our order. They zip closed so there is no need to worry if they will fall out, the padding in the cases is great too.  My daughter can put her case in her purse or dance bag and I don't need to worry about it getting broken or falling out.  I have to say, with an 8 year old using it daily it still looks almost brand new which is fabulous imo.

I would have expected to pay more than I did for a handmade custom order but I was surprised at how comparable the prices were for handmade to factory mass made items.  For us, this purchase was a win all around, we are supporting handmade items, at a great price, they look fabulous, are functional, and do everything we need them to.  

My day today is schooling ,crochet, and cleaning...hoping to get all the boring chores out of the way today so I can enjoy the weekend {hopefully with some sun!} with the family and work on some more crochet projects.  Today's crochet is taken up by hats and tiaras :)

PS: I didn't get paid for this review, just wanted  to share a great gift idea and my love for a product that we purchased. :)

Crochet Easter Present: Crocheted Owl

In keeping with our family love of handmade/homemade gifts for the holidays, I worked up a quick owl for Victoria for an Easter present. It was my very first Amigurumi project and I was a little nervous going into it.  I am not really sure why, I guess the whole working up a 3D type project just threw me off.

As I got farther in to it {it works up really fast!} I fell in love with the whole process of it all. 
The pattern can be found here, there is a crochet version and a knit version. 

Instead of doing the eyes like the pattern called for I used some buttons from my vintage button collection.  I love the character that they give the mini owl. I used some Variegated yarn for this project and it was awesome because the front came out in a super cute stripe pattern. 

The back....not so much straight lines. lol  ;)

I crocheted my beak instead of using the felt method that the pattern called for.  

To do this beak you will need:

A small amount of yellow scrap yarn

3.50 crochet hook

Yarn needle

ch 2

single crochet in the first ch you made

ch 1 and turn

single crochet in the ch 1 stitch space and the ch from the previous row {2 sc}

ch 1 turn

 single crochet in the ch 1 stitch space , ch 1,  single crochet in the next {2sc and 1chain 1}

ch 1 turn

single crochet in the ch 1 stitch space, 2 single crochet in the ch 1 space, single crochet in the next {4 sc}

You want your stitches to be really tight so you may need to switch your hook or yarn size accordingly. 

Softly pull your yarn at the tip so that it pulls tight and you can see a nice point. Knot it and then weave it in and trim your yarn. 

Leave a 8 - 10 in tail up top at the wider part for sewing to your owl.  Knot it and then use it to sew to your owl's face.  I didn't sew down the point so that you could push it up and give the face more character. :)

I can't wait to give this to her on Sunday, she already knows about the crocheted shirt she is getting { after the many try on sessions :) } so this will be a fun surprise for her.  It works up really fast and easy which is perfect if you are short on time. 

I have already been on Ravelry today looking for more of these fun projects....found a super cute ladybug, and an adorable cat that I am thinking of making her for her birthday this year, my fingers are already itching for a new fun project! :)

I am adding this to my Spring into the Holidays Series because if made a certain way they would be great for little ones or even elementary age kids....or for any owl lover really! ;)

Valentines Heart Bookmark & Homemade Valentines Ideas

Its almost Valentines and yet I feel so un ~prepared this year.  We have had so much going on this last month and been busy, busy that I have not gotten done all that I wanted to. Thankfully my daughter adores handmade gifts so I don't have to worry about running out to the store last minute. ;)

So far I did a pattern for a cute and easy heart necklace for your little one{and her doll}:

The little necklace is going to look so cute on her American Girl doll, I can't wait to give her this since she just loves matching them. :)

We also got her a book because she is a little  okay hugely book obsessed. 

Another Harry Potter book, she adores anything Harry Potter 

{yes, that obsession is completely my doing :) }

To go with her new book I did an origami heart bookmark, tutorial can be found 

here

It ends up coming out super cute and fun.  I did one in a solid and that one was kinda boring and plain so I used some of my daughter's fun origami paper to make one with a little more color and fun.

Cut your paper to a four by four like she recommends so that it fits nice and snug on the book.

If you don't have any origami paper, just use newspaper or some plain white paper.  You can print out a fun print on the plain white paper or decorate it with your own drawings or stamps to make it extra personal.

We also have this tradition in our house of writing little love notes to our daughter on Valentines, we use cut up fun scrapbook paper that we have left over from projects and then my husband and I write her little love notes on each one.  We fold them up and stick them in a mason jar and then its waiting on the kitchen table for her when she gets up valentines morning.  Its heart melting adorable to watch her giggle and smile from ear to ear while she reads those notes.  :)

We have not finished ours yet for this year, so here is a photo of last year's jar {she had already taken off the top and the ribbon before I got to it to take a photo lol }

This morning I finished up an American Girl Cowl, this will be a free pattern that ya'll can look forward to seeing next week. :)

I also made my daughter a dry erase board out of a picture frame for her dance homework, tutorial for that will be next week as well.  

Off to get our schooling on and patiently wait for our crock pot applesauce to get done...the house smells so yummy right now! :)

Heart Valentines Necklace {with matching American Girl necklace}

I meant to do this post yesterday as a fun 1st of February post but sadly Victoria and I have gotten the cold that has been going around for a few weeks now.  I had  thought we dodged the bullet on it because everyone has been starting to get better but sadly we both got sick.  I am hoping lots of fresh juice, water, and fruits and veggies will help us kick this cold quick.  Victoria has two days to get better because she has ballet shows this weekend. Yikes!

For Valentines Day I try and focus more on love and handmade gifts.  Its rare I will do candy, if anything her and I will make homemade treats like cookies or brownies that day for a after dinner treat.  Next week, after I finish up my stuff for her, I will do a post on how we celebrate Valentines Day with handmade goodness. :)

Little Girl Hear {Valentines} Necklace

Written in US Crochet Terms

You will need:

4.00 mm hook 

2.25 mm hook

Yarn that can be used with a smaller hook {2.75},  I used Naturally Caron Spa Blend

Yarn that can be used with a 4.00 mm hook,  I used Caron Simply Soft 

Stitches Used:

chain  {ch}

single crochet {sc}

double crochet {dc}

triple crochet {tr}

First you will need to make your hearts, five for the little girl's necklace and one for the American Girl Necklace.  

Heart Pattern

To make the hearts, I used the pattern found on Little Birdie Secrets Website that can be seen here

All of the stitches will be done in the first chain. 

With your 2.25 hook and your heart color yarn ch 4

3 tr into the first ch that you did

Then 3 dc, ch 1, 1 tr, ch 1, 3 dc, 3 tr

ch 3

slip stitch into the center of your heart

cut off your yarn leaving a small tail for weaving in

Give your tail two tails a soft pull to bring your heart together into a nice firm shape. 

Weave in your ends. 

After you make your six hearts and all your ends are woven in, switch to your 4.00 mm hook. 

For the Little Girl's Necklace

With your 4.00 mm hook and your chain color yarn, make a heart with the heart pattern above, this time, don't cut off your end after your slip stitch into the center. 

ch 30 after you slip stitch into the center

Join your first heart to the necklace by doing a slip stitch into the back loops of the heart right where they are rounded at the top, ch 2 in between each slip stitch you do to join your heart. 

 By only doing one loop, this makes the heart keep its shape and it looks like a clean edge because you don't see the chain color joining in with the heart color. 

*ch 15 and join your heart the way you did joined your first heart*

Repeat from * to * to join the other three hearts. 

After you join your 5th heart you will ch 30

ch 8 more 

slip stitch into the 8th chain from the hook {this creates your loop for your heart to go through for fastening}

Fasten off your ends and you are finished! :)

The Matching American Girl Necklace

With your 4.00 mm hook and your chain color yarn, make a heart with the heart pattern above, this time, don't cut off your end after your slip stitch into the center. 

ch 23

Join your heart to the necklace by doing a slip stitch into the back loops of the heart right where they are rounded at the top, ch 2 in between each slip stitch you do to join your heart. 

ch 23

ch 8 more

slip stitch into the 8th chain from the hook {this creates your loop for your heart to go through for fastening}

Fasten off your ends and you are finished! :)

These adorable heart {valentines} necklaces work up fast and easy, you could finish them both in the course of a movie if you wanted.  

Mix it up and make the hearts all different colors, more hearts, less hearts, bigger hearts.  

You could even use the American Girl pattern and make the chains less and turn it into a fun bracelet or anklet.  I love when patterns can be customized to multiple things. :)

Off to try and get some schooling done with Victoria, although I am thinking today will be a movie day after we run to the store for some produce.  Being sick and schooling is just no fun.  

We will either watch Life {narrated by Oprah} which is a favorite in our house.   If your kids get sick and you still want to get some kind of learning in, you could have your kids watch that and then pick an animal that they really liked seeing and do a mini report on it after reading more about it in some library books.  

or

 We might watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, I hear that has been a pretty good show so far and would love to check it out.  

Hope everyone has a lovely day, we will be spending ours on the sofa with lots of snuggly crochet blankets, fresh juiced juice, water, and kitties :)

Just wanted to feature a blogger who has used this pattern to make her own heart necklace and to teach her niece to crochet as well.  It a great beginner pattern to use for kids because its fairly simple and quick to work up as well.  

Follow the link here to see her full blog post.  

She is going to be translating this pattern to French, once she is done I will post the link for that here as well. 

I love how cute these look with just one heart! :)

Follow the link here to see this pattern translated into French.

Santa Sack Tradition

I saw this tradition on a couple blogs that I read from moms in Aussie and fell in love with this idea.  We don't usually wrap gifts in our house unless they are for people outside our family of three.  Even then I try and use bags that can be recycled or reused when gift giving.  So normally on Christmas morning our daughter would wake up and see her gifts stacked up in a neat pile waiting to be sorted through .....my husband and I waiting to hear squeals of delight.  :)

This year we are starting a new tradition, using a Santa Sack as our holder for our daughter's Christmas Gifts.

Victoria helped me sew this sack up....we made it extra big because she thought it would be super funny if she could fit inside it lol

All you have to do is sew a sack like you would a pillow case...its really easy to whip up. :)

I am planning on making a girly girl fun one for birthday gifts too.  I am hoping in starting this tradition with her that she will share it will her children one day.

I don't want to go all eco on everyone on why we do what we do with not wrapping ....long story short:

We don't feel comfortable with how much garbage is accumulated on Christmas with all the present opening and would rather not take part in that.  This Santa Sack is perfect because it allows for some fun and festiveness all with keeping our eco values in mind.  :)

My cute little Christmas helper....or as she calls it, my Christmas elf lol :)

If you are a good sewer you could totally do this in under an hour...for someone like me who is just okay it took me a couple of hours but that is probably because of all the giggle parties Victoria and I were having and because I can't bend over my sewing machine too long because of my back.

Hoping to inspire at least one person to make one of these for next year.

We can change the world and make a difference one person at a time.

Because that person can inspire someone ...and so on and so on.

A chain of infections goodness!

:)

Falling for Fall {Thankful For Project}

I absolutely love making things for my daughter and doing projects with her.  But I also love watching her craft and create on her own as well.  Now that the leaves are changing I had this urge to do some fall decorations that were handmade {mainly kid made :)}.  Kid made decorations just make me smile.  So I went online and searched for leaf templates that I could print out for free. 

 I found this one:  http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/pdf3/tvs8651_corkleafcoaster.pdf

by Martha.  

I liked this one because there were different shapes of  leaves and it also told what tree each leaf came from so it became an art and science lesson in one.  Love it when that happens! :)  You can print that template off bigger if you want, Victoria wanted small baby leaves so we kept the print size smaller.  After you print them out have your little one cut out the template pieces and then trace them as many times as they want on colored construction paper.  Victoria wanted to do so many that I did help her in the tracing of them so it went a little smoother for her. ;)

So we wouldn't forget what leaves came from what trees she went ahead and wrote the names on the back. I am thinking about doing a science project where we take these trees and sketch them out in our science journal and find out where they are commonly found.  Victoria loves things that are nature and tree related. 

After tracing a million  okay 30 or so Victoria cut them out and then wrote all the things she was thankful for this year.  She had so much to write that she actually cut out a few more leaves.  Super cute!

 We started to tape them out around her home school desk area so she could see them while she did her work but then we thought we better not put too many .....the kitty monster has been known to come in the night and tear things down off the wall.

 Flopsina guarding my daughter's art :)

 So we took the rest and Victoria stuck them up high enough on the wall so that the kitty monster can't get to them in the night.

Now whenever we walk in from being gone, we walk by and see all the things our little girl is thankful for and it makes us smile.  :)

15 Days of Thankful Project

While we try and teach our daughter to think of things she is thankful for and happy about in her life often, November always is a reflection period for us as well.  I love to save the things that she writes that she is thankful for each year....even though she is only 8 right now things that she wrote about two years ago have changed slightly and they just keep getting cuter by the year. :)

I love the Thankful For trees that I see all over blogs these days and would love to make one.  But the kitty monster in our house has other plans. :O  lol

I wanted something that would be small and easy to store from year to year...also something that could be personalized as well.  So taking from that and some inspiration from my husband's grandmother's tradition this idea was created. :)

I gave my daughter a regular sized envelope and had her decorate it with a family photo drawing.  She also added in one of her favorite stamps of mine and some cute hearts. :)  I love the fact that she always gives herself heels ....so cute!

Each day we will each put in one card with one thing we are thankful for written on it.  We are officially starting this on the 9th but I thought I would share this cute and easy idea before the 15 days started.

I love this idea because it is not only is a drawing keepsake for my daughter but an cute and easy way to store our thankful cards each year.  Since I keep school samples each year in a file folder I just slip this envelope into that year.  I'm looking forward to the time when Sierra is older and I have 10 years of these envelopes with her drawings and our thankful thoughts each year to look back on.  It is going to be so sweet. :)

I love traditions that are fun, easy, and simple to do.  :)

Christmas Wishes Holder

I made this super cute Christmas Wishes holder for Victoria last year.  I love that its something we can use each and every year.  I didn't take photos of the making process but I will try and give you a summery of how to make one if you would like.  I have also done a Thankful one just like this but with different paper for Thanksgiving as well. :)

What you need:

A piece of wood cut to the size that you want and then sanded to take away rough edges.  I rounded the edges ever so slightly on ours.

Holiday themed scrap booking paper

6 magnet clips that have a flat back that will allow you to glue them to the wood.

Mod Podge

E6000 Glue

Scissors

Brush to apply the mod podge

Clear coat sealer spray in a matte finish

Let's get started!!

Trace the flat sides of your wood onto the paper of your choice.  Subtract about a quarter inch or so all the way around.  This will make it so some of the wood shows.  Cut out your paper for the flat side and then use mod podge to glue the paper down to one side.  Go slow and smooth it down to keep the bubbles at bay.  Let this dry all the way.  About an hour or so depending on the temp in your house.  I find that when its hot and humid it takes forever for mod podge to try in our home.

While this is drying you can do the magnets.  I just cut circles out that were smaller than the circles in the magnet clips.  Then I used mod podge to glue them down just like I did with the paper to the wood.  Let these dry all the way.  When they are dry go back with the mod podge and apply a thin top coat to seal the paper.

When you first side is dry for your wood you will do the other flat side the same way.  Let this dry all the way again.

Next on the two short sides you will trace them on your paper of choice.  I didn't trim the sides by a quarter inch for this because I wanted the whole thing to be covered.  You will do one side, let it dry, and then do the other side.  You do this so you don't accidentally put the wood down on a wet side and ruin your project.  I have done that before and its a very frustrating way to mess up your project.

When all four sides that you applied paper to are done you can move on.  This next step it totally optional.

I took a med. blend sandpaper and rounded the edges of the paper.  I just rubbed it in short bursts until I got the rounded semi distressed look I was looking for.  Totally optional, I just wanted to try it out and see what it looked like and I loved it after I did the first side.  I did it on all four corners on all four pieces of scrapbook paper that I applied with the mod podge.

Next I wrote cute little sayings on the long flat sides with a permanent marker.

When the ink was dry and set, I took the whole thing outside and sprayed it with a clear coat sealer in a matte finish.

Finally I glued on the magnet clips with E6000 glue...any extra strength glue should do the trick.

Let this dry overnight ...in your garage because the glue smells horrid...at least I think so. lol

The next morning gather up your little ones and have them write some cute wishes, things they want from Santa, ect....

Its so cute to watch kids think about holiday wishes, and this could be the start of a new fun family tradition for you.  It def. was for us :)

Photos are from last year's xmas...have yet to take photos of the cuteness Victoria came up with this year.

Last year she was trying hard to get over being afraid of the dark and spiders and since we moved she wanted to make some new friends in our new town.  It was really sweet to see her be so raw and open with her xmas wishes.  She was the same this year and I love that about her.  She is not afraid to speak her mind and discuss her emotions.  She is so much stronger than I was at her age! :)

Hoping dinner time rolls around quick....we have chili cooking and it smells AMAZING! :D

PS: You can also use the same concept to make little photo holders.  There is a magnet clip on both sides and its done the same way as the Christmas wishes holder, just on a smaller scale. Makes great birthday gifts...mother's day gifts...ect. :)

Semi Recycled Christmas Craft for Kids {Jingle Bells}

Victoria loves to decorate for the holidays....but not with store bought crafts.  Each new season or holiday she spends time creating decorations for our house.  Its really adorable to watch her create stuff.  Some of the projects are ones that I have taught her, others are things she comes up with all on her own.  We try and make as much as we can using thing we would normally recycle.  So far for our winter/Christmas decorations she has made quite a few banners, 
a million 
 okay maybe like 60 snowflakes {she really wants to see snow this year}, jingle bells, and tons of art.  To me, the homemade kid made decorations are my favorite.  They are just so cute and unique and really fun to look at.

This tutorial is for a jingle bell craft inspired by a photo I found on Martha's blog.  You can see the post for her version here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/275712/kids-christmas-crafts/@center/307034/christmas-workshop#/270876

We did ours a little differently and the way we did it, you get more jingle bells out of one carton of eggs.  It was Victoria's idea to do it differently.  She wanted round jingle bells instead of the triangle like shape you get when following Martha's instructions.  Since it was her craft, I let her be the leader. :)

For this project you will need:

1 cardboard egg carton

paints in various colors { we used a soy based paint}

scissors

a box cutter

paint brushes

cup for water to clean your brushes

12 jingle bells

yarn

yarn needle

1: Use a box cutter to cut down the middle of your egg carton {Adult Part}

2: How it will look once you cut it

3: Use a box cutter to cut off the side flap and place that small flap in the recycling. {Adult part}

Cut out the circles that your eggs would normally sit in.  The middle cone parts can be used for jingle bells as well but then you will need a few more bells.   Victoria really wanted round ones instead of the triangle cut of Martha's so we went with that.  After cutting them out she said: " You know what mom?  This was a better idea because we get more jingle bells out of the container."  I like the way you think little one :D  The cutting out of these should be done by an adult or an older child because it  can be a little tricky.  Round them out but cutting the edges off.

Paint your little jingle bells.  We did two coats of a base color and then let them dry all the way before adding some details to them.

After you add your details, let them dry all the way before moving on to the next steps.

Take a piece of yarn a couple feet long {really this all depends on how many jingle bells you want to put on them and how long you want it} and thread one end through the needle.  Take the needle and go through the loop on the jingle bell and pull it down till there is about two inches or so left on one side of the yarn.  Do a double knot so secure it in place.  Trim off the access yarn so there is just a short tail left.  Go up through the inside of the jingle bell cup that you made with the needle and pull the cup down so it sits on top of the jingle bell.  To put multiple ones on one piece of yarn you will just slide another jingle bell on, leaving a gap between it and the last one and do a double knot to secure.  Attach another cone the same way and slide it down to sit on top of the bell.   Victoria wanted three each so that is what we did. :)

She had so much fun making this craft, its really kid friendly and  they can do most of it by themselves with minimal adult prep work.   Once you have the amount of bells on that you like you will just tie the yarn in a double knot making a loop at the top.  We let Victoria do this part so she could figure out just how long she wanted  them to hang.  You could add a bow to it or another other kind of embellishment to make it more you or more festive.

The one Victoria made to hang on the door to her room.  She loves having this one on her door.  In fact this morning she was purposely opening and closing her door just to make it jingle, all the while giggling like crazy and singing " I've got bells on my door! I've got bells on my door!"  It was def. one of those priceless mom feel good make you smile moments. :)

We also have them hanging on all our other doors ...so now when you go in and out of our doors you here "jingle, jingle".  :)

In the picture to the right you can see one of the banners Victoria made to hang above our garage door.  She made it out of scrap paper from the printer {you know when you print a coupon out and  then you have like half a page left?  She used a bunch of those from the scrap bin we keep} and scrap scrap booking paper.  I will have to take a photo of all the snow flake banners she has hung in our kitchen, they are pretty cute if I do say so myself. :)

So there you have it, a fun semi recycled kids Christmas craft.  Oh and another great thing with your egg cartons.  Save them and use them to pour paint in if you have little ones who love to paint like I do.  If you use a paint that can be recycled then you can throw the whole thing in the recycle bin when you are done. :)  Just make sure there is no left over egg on them and wait till the paint is fully dry before tossing them in your recycle bin. Otherwise you will wind up with a paint splattered recycle bin...not like I know from experience or anything ;)

Tomorrow I am hoping I will get some time to do my tea cup pin cushion tutorial.  I have made two and have a few more to go for holiday gifts.  Loving how they are coming along.