knitted hunting trophy

This post is for my sister Lizzy...

This is the perfect combination of your and Devon's hobbies. I think the baby would love one in his room above the crib. :)

how to grow wheatgrass

I love the look of wheatgrass, but have often felt intimidated about actually growing it myself. Here's a great tutorial at Make and Takes.

embellished shirts

After my ruffle t-shirt post, my sister Lauren embellished several shirts for my sister Olivia. I love how with simple, inexpensive additions Olivia's wardrobe was refashioned.

pink shirt: added lace doily to back

black shirt: twisted thick black lace in loop design on front

white shirt: sewed white ruffles from old white t-shirt and added to collar

yellow/black shirt: added large black bow to front

fabric pots

Love these pots covered with fabric.  I think they'd be perfect for party favors or place settings.

ribbon storage clothespins

I've tried a lot of different methods for storing ribbon (spools stored on wooden rods, scraps stored in glass jars, scraps wrapped around strips of cardstock, scraps folded and pinned...), but I still haven't found on I've been able to make stick. I think I'd like to try this clothespin storage idea.

rainbow jello

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Isn't this rainbow jello idea fun? It'd be a great treat for today or a fun snack to make when teaching kids about colors. 

wool sweater bag

Love this bag made from a thrift store wool sweater.

ruffle tshirt

You see ruffles everywhere right now. This DIY ruffle shirt is pretty amazing. Lauren - will you make me one??

[project] trip chart

Elle and Liv left with Grandma today for a trip to Washington. While they're gone, I made them a chart to keep track of the days. The image above is an example of how the chart will look at the end of the trip.

It was a last minute idea and easy to make. I drew the chart in Illustrator and printed it on white cardstock. We took pictures on my Mac with Photobooth and then printed them on white label sheets. I glued the chart to a larger piece of colored cardstock and attached a mini white envelope to the bottom of the chart filled with face stickers.

Each day Elle and Liv can pick a new face sticker of mom or dad to fill in the chart. Of course, they'll be having too much fun to care about ol' mom and dad, but hopefully it'll help them remember how much we love them! Have fun girls (and thanks Mom and Dad, Lauren, Sam, John and Olivia)!

the graphics fairy

When I found this blog, I instantly thought of my sister-in-law.  So Cissy, I'm posting this for you. Let's come up with something fun to create with all of this vintage clip art - maybe your Valentine's card wreath or one for Christmas.

roman shades

I've been searching all over for a good roman shade tutorial online. I'm thinking it might be something I want to make for the windows in my basement.  This tutorial from ReadyMade is the best I've seen and actually creates the shade completely from scratch not an existing, inexpensive roman shade.

luggage tags

I'm going on vacation soon. Every time I'm standing at the baggage carousel waiting for my luggage, I wonder why I didn't add something to my basic black luggage to make it stand out. This luggage tag idea from Martha reminded me that it's about time I personalize my suitcase. I'd love to create a really cute design to print out and slip into clear luggage tag. Although...I'm pretty sure the luggage tags will never look as good on standard, boring black suitcases.

plaster flowers

I love this idea from Songbird where you dip flowers (or anything else) in plaster. I've always been intrigued by plaster, but it seems a little intimidating. This project seems easy...can't wait to try it.  

abc book

I've wanted to make an abc book ever since Elle was born.  Now almost 3 years later, it's still on my list of things to create.  If I do actually ever get around to making one, I'm definitely using this c page idea from Hippos and Dinosaurs.

so you think you're crafty

I've been following the So You Think You're Crafty blog for the past few months and love to see the new projects posted each week. They follow the "so you think you can dance" format where you can vote for a winning project each week. The winner posts the step-by-step tutorial of the project. They also just started a So You Think You Can Decorate blog. Check it out!

sisters

I love this picture. It fits them perfectly.

Elle being silly.

Liv watching in complete adoration.

Liv trying to be just like her.

Elle showing her how.

Side by side.

canvas envelopes

I love these canvas envelopes. Definitely on my list of projects to try.

[food] heart hashbrowns

While I'm posting about Valentine's Day, I think our new family tradition will be heart hashbrowns for breakfast. Hashbrowns are one of Adam's favorite food so this year we surprised him with heart shaped hashbrowns and pink milk (another favorite of his). He loves ketchup. I do not. Lucky for him, ketchup is red and added the perfect finishing touch.

[project] mini cookie matchbox

Elle and I made these for Valentine's Day to give to her cousins and friends. I think mini or tiny projects are perfect when you need to create several...it can be faster to put together and mini always seems to be cute.

For these, we die cut and assembled the matchboxes several days before we made the cookies. Because the matchbox has an inside piece that slides in and out of a cover, we were even able to tie the ribbon around the box and still access the inside later. Valentine's morning we made small sugar cookies (they were less than 1 inch in diameter) and put two in a mini cupcake wrapper. We placed the cookies in the box, slid on the cover, and they were ready to deliver.

Overall, I really like how they turned out. I tend to prefer soft sugar cookies but thought a crisp cookie would work best for this project. Next time, I think I'll experiment with other crisp sugar cookie recipes to find one I really like.

Studio 5: L Letterpress and Baby Liv

Megan Hoeppner from Creating Keepsakes featured the L Letterpress and Epic Tool as one of the "hot techniques in paper crafting" on Studio 5. Best of all, baby Liv's picture was shown on a baby announcement I created for her using the L Letterpress. Check it out here.

- Thanks Brock and Julie for reminding me to go watch the clip online!