Pretty Pedals w/o Sewing

My crafty friend I mentioned earlier started obsessing about making all of these different flowers we've been seeing in blogland. I'm so glad she did! I've been wanting to make some, but didn't know if they would really turn out cute.

They ARE so cute though!
I'm putting a note on how to make them under each picture.

She made these...Take a thin piece of material and twist it. Start curling the twisted material around itself and hot glue it as you go. Add a little jewel in the middle and attach all three flowers to a piece of felt and then to a clip of choice.

Use a strip of material folded in half longwise and hotglued on the open edge. Start in the center of the flower and fold over the material until it looks like this. :)

and I copied ones she had already made and did these...
Use a strip of material (about 10-12"). Fold lengthwise and hot glue open end. Start rolling from the middle. Gather and scrunch around and around...hot glue as you go. Make 3 flowers and attach to a felt circle.

Cut different sizes of circles and burn edges. Hot glue the layers together in the center of each circle. Add a jewel and clip on the back.

I love how feminine they are. I put them all on alligator clips so I can attach them to headbands or crocheted hats or whatever else I want to put them on.

She also made some flowers out of zippers...I'll have to get a picture. Then I'm going to make some!

Pretty Wipie Case

My wonderful crafty friend gave me a wipie case she had prettied up. It was so cute I had to make one for another friend. This is how mine ended up looking.
Easy peasy...cover the top and bottom with batting (or if you don't have any on hand, but still want to make it, like me, use polyfil). Cover it with the material and add ribbon all around the edge. You'll hot glue everything down. It's easiest if you make a pattern to use to cut out your batting and material pieces.

Now my inventive friend is having crazy cute ideas for other wipie cases. I'll share when she does them.

Another Baby Cake

I had the chance to make my baby cake again. I love making this little guy (or girl)!
If you're wondering how it's done, it's pretty simple.

I used the Wilton Stand Up Bear Pan Set.
After baking & cooling, you cut off the ears and muzzle part around the little pug nose. After cutting down the ears some, you replace them on the sides of the head with toothpicks.

I also cut half of the arm off that I'm putting on top of the bottle. You have to cut out underneath the bottle so it doesn't stick out away from the body too. If you want to use a rattle or other baby object, you probably won't have to cut out the body.

Then it's onto piping the baby. This time I did the diaper smooth. A trick from a friendly Wilton magazine...you can smooth the icing by dipping your finger in cornstarch and tapping lightly on the frosting.

You can also make the bear into a little girl or boy or even a graduate.

Not that I've done it, but I might have to try.

German Chocolate Cake

My hubby had a birthday and I got to make him one of his favorite cakes...German Chocolate. But I thought this time instead of buying a boxed chocolate cake and the little cans of German Chocolate frosting, I would do everything from scratch.

I call these ugly cakes because they don't look like my pretty decorated ones, but my hubby always says they taste a lot better.
It was a labor of love for sure. I don't really like this kind of cake, so it's only worth it because he loves it so much.

I found a recipe at allrecipes.com that people raved about and went from there.

Some tips for this recipe:
*double the frosting if you want enough to do the sides and plenty in between the layers.
*toast the coconut & pecans
*let the frosting totally cool - I refrigerated mine

If you're a German Chocolate Cake fan, you should love this one...my husband devoured it.

Picture Frame & Matte Redo

I had this frame and matte that I wanted to match the rest of my hallway frames. So, yes, I broke out the spray paint.I actually spray painted the matte too. The outside white, it was kind of a beige with swirly things, and the inner part I painted black with a brush because it's not a separate matte.
It turned out great to me. Just what I wanted.

Impatience Turns Good

I was wanting to hang my girls' pictures in their room, but had to spray paint the frames first.

I got impatient and couldn't wait until it warmed up anymore.
It was about 40 degrees outside and when I spray painted the frames the paint kind of did this crackling effect. At first I was mad I didn't hold off, but then decided to go ahead and finish them. It turned out great. They kind of have this leather look to them now. I like it.It's hard to tell in these pictures. One reason is that I have been using my old (8 years old to be exact) camera because my newer one went crazy. But now, I can produce some much better photos...I just got a new one today! Yay!

Framed Bow Holder

Have you ever broken something and just wanted to scream?!
I had spray painted a frame and was putting the glass back in and it busted!
I wasn't too happy, but found something else to do with it.

I spray painted it again...to brown this time. Then I hot glued ribbon in the back from top to bottom. And done.
I now have more room to hang bows for my little girlies. My other bow hanger was getting cramped and I didn't want to add any length to the ribbon that already existed.

I'm getting ready to make some more bows for my girls, so I will need all of this space soon. I am going to have 3 girls, so it'll be ok for the bathroom to be decorated in bows, right?

Baby Carrier Cover

After 2 babies you realize it's the little things that help out.

I got so tired of pulling up the blankets over the carrier. They would continually fall off or slip down. I always liked covering the carrier when it was cold outside or they were sleeping.

This simple solution will be wonderful in about two weeks!
I bought a yard of fabric and found some old fabric in my closet for the back side of the blanket. I rounded the corners and sewed right sides together like a pillow.

I top stitched around the whole blanket. Then added these little straps with some velcro.
Pretty simple process with great rewards in my future. :)

Now why didn't I think of this about 5 years ago...or at least found someone who had thought of it, like this lady. Thanks for the inspiration.

For more great inspiration, check out Twice Remembered today where everyone is sharing their projects.

Plastic Storage Updo

I bought this little storage container for all of my girls' hair stuff. We have a limited amount of storage (the story of my life right now) in our bathrooms. When I saw this on sale for a few bucks, it just made sense.

But I didn't like that you could see everything inside it. So Mod Podge it was. I saw what looks to be the identical little storage thing done here.
Now I think I might take out the drawers and spray paint it brown, wouldn't that make it cute? Especially since it's a cream colored paper.
And then buy one more and do it all over again. :)

Bread Box Redo

I found this lovely bread box at the Thrift Store the other day. Passed it up because I really didn't want to pay $5 for it, but went back the next day because I was afraid it would be gone quick. It's the only one I've ever seen there soooo...now it's mine, all mine.

I can't believe this was in style at one point. I'm sure I'll be saying that about my own stuff sometime in the future.

So after some black spray paint, I used my Cricut to cut out some pretty shapes that I Mod Podged on.
I never thought to use a bread box in my space-hindering apartment until I saw this posted on Mod Podge Rocks. Then I figured I could find a bread box cheap to redo also.

I don't have to use my girls' baby basket any longer.
The top of my fridge looks much much better. Thanks ladies for the great idea!

Christmas Plaques

Disclaimer: If you are my sister-in-laws...please don't look at this post, unless you don't care to be surprised. :)

I've seen these plain wooden plaques hanging at the Dollar Tree for some time now. Many different ideas ran through my head...baby's room w/letters, big girls room with patterns, dining room...so many options.

Instead I thought I should send 2 of my brothers and their families a little something for Christmas. This will be the first Christmas I've ever had without my family...tear. But it'll be ok.

I spray painted the whole thing red. Then took Christmas scrapbook paper and Mod Podged it on. Used my Cricut to cut out the letters and Mod Podged them on top. Hot glued some little rhinestones, bells, and ribbon and that's about it. It actually took longer than I had planned, but that was probably because I was crafting with a group of ladies. Talking accounts for the majority of the time I would guess.I figure I can get away with making them home decor since it's seasonal. They don't have to keep it up if they don't like them. But I think I may make myself one now.

Jewelry Boxes with Mod Podge

I finally finished my little girls' jewelry boxes. They are the little wooden boxes I found at the Thrift Store for 75 cents. I had to show the top of this one. It had a small cross-stitched something or another Mod Podged on top. I found out you shouldn't Mod Podge unless you are serious about it staying there. I had to use plyers to rip it off!
First I spray painted them black. Then I Mod Podged zebra print scrap paper to the top. Then cut out letters and swirly thingies on my Cricut (love it! will have to share the story of how I got a great deal on it later) and Mod Podged them on.
Not that you can see, but I also lined the inside bottoms with hot pink felt.
Voila! I'm planning on stacking them up and setting them on their bookshelf or dresser...where little hands can't destroy them.
I even made jewelry to go in them, but didn't take a picture. I can't wait for them to open them! I hope they like everything as much as I do.