A Framed Toast

A Toast

Are you like me? Are you lucky enough to have best friend who you think is just wonderful? A person who is outgoing, funny, beautiful, strong, and independent? If so, lucky you (and lucky me)!

My best friend, Maggie, is one of my favorite people. She has been since the day I met her, our first day of college. She's a BIG personality, and everyone around her just adores her. All through college, I found myself wondering who she would end up marrying. Who could possible be good enough for her? Who could balance her and let her be herself at the same time? Who deserved to be with the awesome girl? There couldn't possibly be anyone out there good enough for her, could there?

And, boy, was I wrong. Maggie met her husband, Michael. And everything changed. Here was this guy who was so different from Maggie, but still so wonderful. While she's outgoing, he's a little more reserved. He takes her independence in stride, and is such a patience person. He's thoughtful and wonderful in so many ways. He has become one of my other favorite people.  I couldn't have thought of a better partner for Maggie. 

The Finished Product

Then, two and half years ago. Maggie and Michael got married! It was a beautiful, rainy day with umbrellas and imperfect flowers. Maggie looked gorgeous and they were so happy. And I was lucky enough be asked to be Maggie's maid of honor. 

Materials: paper, canvas, frame, mod podge, sponge brush

I was so happy that I could be involved in Maggie and Mike's wedding. I had so many things to say about these two wonderful people. I thought and thought about my speech.

Cut paper down to 8x10 size

When I was visiting my parents that summer, I found a cute little plaque that said "And they lived happily ever after" and knew just what I wanted to say. Maggie is a strong, beautiful woman who has been through so much, and finally found her prince charming, Mike.

Mod Podge the paper to the canvas, and let dry overnight

When their wedding day finally came, I was so nervous and excited to share my speech. I got through it, shaky voice and all. Mike told me how nice it was and that he'd like a copy.

When dry, place in frame.

So, one beautiful baby and two and a half years later. I finally got around to giving Mike my toast as a birthday present. And, in about four and half months, it's Jeremy and my turn to get married. Maggie will be standing up there with me and Mike will be marrying us. I couldn't think of two better people to stand with us on our wedding day.

*A note about how I made the project. It was an easy one! I used an 8x10 frame and canvas and the spacing of a normal piece of printer paper working perfectly with this size. I used Microsoft Word to type of my toast on a plain sheet of paper. I inserted one of their wedding pictures as an image and set the text to wrap around it. If you aren't sure how to do this, just type "wrap around image" into the help section on Word. I changed the words to brown and changed the coloring of the picture to sepia to match the brown frame.* 

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Love Deck

52 Reasons

As you all know, Tuesday was Valentine's Day. Jeremy and I are big fans of Valentine's Day. Usually, we take a trip right around this time (over President's Day weekend) and celebrate on the trip. Since we planning a wedding (four and half months!!!), we decided to celebrate in Chicago this year. We decided to go inexpensive on Valentine's this year, and go out to a nice dinner.

Jeremy and I have a different ideas of how to go inexpensive on a Valentine's gift. I decided to hide little Boston Terrier Valentine's cards all around the apartment for Jeremy to find when he was getting ready for work (see the Etsy.com link to the cards Jeremy's Valentine's Cards). And, of course, I decided to go crafty. (More on Jeremy's Valentine's Day to me later).

Here's my finished product!

This project uses a deck of cards and a lot of imagination (and tons of Mod Podge)! Start off by writing a list of 52 reasons you love your significant other...make them silly, serious, and/or full of inside jokes!

Next, print off little squares that have reasons 1-52 on them. I used about 5 different fonts for all of the reasons, so the cards didn't look so uniformed. You are going to Mod Podge them onto the backs of cards (the colored side without numbers). You will actually need 53 cards, as the first card only has the cover on the front (see picture) and "Reason #1) on the back. I used one of the Joker cards in the mix of my cards.

After you Mod Podge, let the cards dry overnight.

Next, you are going to write the 52 reasons on the front of the cards. Here are the different ways I spiced up my cards...

Pictures from the Internet

Use labels from food

Use the content on the card (for you non-euchre players, Jacks are important)

Use your pictures

Use stickers, like the football

Just write on the card

Make sure you punch out two holes before you Mod Podge, so you can put the rings through. Let them dry overnight, then put together your book!

Have you figured out my gift from Jeremy yet? He got me a new camera!!! YAY! Can you tell the difference in my photos? I know I can! He didn't quite stick to our low budget Valentine's Day, but he knew I really WANTED a new camera for my blog. Also, we are looking forward to using it for our honeymoon! He also got me BEAUTIFUL flowers from my favorite flower shop in Logan Square. See if you can spot them in my blog next week!

I was SO excited to give Jeremy this gift, and he said it was the BEST Valentine's Day gift he'd ever received! Who can blame him? Who wouldn't like to hear 52 reasons they are GREAT?? I know Valentine's Day has passed, but this would make a great birthday, Christmas, or everyday gift! I can't take credit for this idea though, I found it on Pinterest. I couldn't find directions on how to put it together, so I hope you other "Pinterest-ers" will find this blog helpful!

I'm off for another fabulous weekend day with Jer and the pup! Next week, a quick, easy, and thoughtful gift!

Until then, keep crafting! 

SB

LOVE-ly Valentine's Craft

LOVE Letters

Last week, I promised a love-ly craft! Here it is!

I saw yarn wrapped letters on Pinterest. Now that Jeremy and I have a cute little apartment (if I do say so myself), I thought it would be fun to start decorating for all the holidays! Luckily, I have VERY good holiday decorating mentors in my mom and future mother-in-law (you should see their houses on Christmas-AWESOME). But, I realized that I have no Valentine's decorations...so I decided a cute little craft could take care of that!

So, let's get started. You will need:

• wooden letters
• yarn
• hot glue gun
• lots of hot glue
• scissors

First, cut the yarn into LOTS of 6 to 9 inch pieces. 

The beginning and ends of the letters are the hardest part. When I was starting and finishing each letter, I put a big glob of hot glue, then tried to make a spiral with the yarn on the tip of the letter.

After you have gotten the yarn onto the letter, make sure that yarn is fitted snug into each other (you don't want to see the letter through the yarn). Then, just start wrapping tightly and snug around and around and around until you come to edge of your yarn. Put a dab of hot glue onto the letter. Put your yarn into the hot glue. Hold it there for about 5 seconds.

Then, quickly put your next strand of yarn into the same hot glue dot. 

While your hot glue is cooling, cut off any excess yarn left over from your first strand. 

 

Then, just repeat. At the end, the back of your letter should look something like this:

Here's a close up of one of the letters.

Some of the shapes can get a little complicated to wrap. In that case, extra wrapping and lots of hot glue work wonders! The back of the O is definitely the prettiest back, which is why it made it on the blog!

This program is really easy, but TIME CONSUMING. It took me a little over an hour per letter. The only other hazard of this project is a lot of hot glue on the yarn, the table, your hands, pretty much everywhere. FYI hot glue doesn't feel great on your hands. Small price to pay...

I really like how this turned out. I actually have the letters on my bookshelf now (it's too dark to take a picture). There's lots of possibilities with this craft. I think that doing a Halloween "BOO" with orange, yellow, and white would be really cute! 

Unfortunately, I had another part of the Valentine's Day project that didn't turn out at all! Boo! I'm pretty disappointed that it didn't work, BUT I'm working on it. Maybe another project for another week. You live and learn, right? 

Anyway, my wonderful fiance has been cooking all the meals, taking care of the pup, and waiting patiently for me all day to hang out with me. Love that man. Next up, his Valentine's Day present. So excited to give it to him!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Reading Response Fishing

Have You Ever Been Fishin' on a Bright and Sunny Day?

Happy Superbowl Sunday! I'm currently blogging and watching the game (well, let's be honest, the commercials). I had any fabulously fun and busy weekend, including a concert and a trip to an infamous college bar! So, of course this means I'm a little behind on my blog...oh well. :)

I decided to kill two birds with one stone for my project this week. I wanted make a new, fun way for my students to decide what they need to write about after they have read their books independently during reading centers (we call this a reading response). I also promised a non-sewing craft for this week's blog.

Here's what I came up with:

The general idea is that the students will take the fishing pole and dip it into the "pond". Each fish has a different idea for a reading response. 

Here's what you will need:

Pond:

container  (I used a Foldgers coffee container)

scissors and glue stick

hot glue gun

construction paper

Fish:

fish cut outs link to my cut outs

scissors and marker

magnetic strip

Fishing Pole:

yarn

magnetic disk (or other object)

stick (I used a skewer with the pointy tip cut off)

Starting off with the pond...make some waves! I used some blue construction paper. I made a 2 sets of waves on one piece of paper.

Next, cut out and glue your waves onto your background using a glue stick. I choose a yellow background, for a bright and sunny day. Glue your two pieces of background paper together using a glue stick. Now, take your container and roll it across the length of background (on the back side). Stop every few inches and use a pen to mark the height of your container. You could also measure the height of your and measure this with a ruler. BUT you know how much I like quick tricks and hate measuring! Cut along the line.

Next, use the hot glue gun to glue the background to the container. I found it easiest to first put a line of glue on my container, then stick the paper to the container. Then, wrap the background around the container. For the second edge, put the hot glue onto the paper, then press it onto the container. If your paper was longer the the circumference (yup, used a fancy math word!), don't worry! Just let it overlap your first layer. A HUGE benefit of construction paper is that it is thick enough to not show the colors underneath. 

CAUTION! While using hot glue, be careful!! It is very hot and sticky! Take care to not get the glue on your hands or your fiance's iPhone (I'm sorry, Jeremy!!)

Now your pond should be done!! Hooray!

Use the link (or your own fish) to printer out about 15 to 20 fish. Color them if desired (I didn't not desire). Then, write out the options. Cut out. 

Use scissors to cut off half inch pieces of magnetic strip. Remove label and put the on the back of the fish! 

Tie your desired length of yarn to your fishing pole. Find a piece of metal. Test it with a fish to make sure the magnetic force is enough so that the fish will lift out of the "pond". Tie it onto your yarn.

Tada! you are done!!

I like this project because I had almost all of the materials I needed around my house. I only needed to buy the magnetic strip (I have big plans for the left over strip). It was fun to make, and I think my students will really enjoy it! I have found the anything that makes writing into a game is a sure fire way to make my students interested.

There are other ways to use this project. Teachers, exchange reading response ideas for early finisher ideas, or any other need. Non-teachers, if you are a mom to young kids, it could be used for a lot of ideas. If you kids are bored, you could write ideas of what they could do (draw a picture, play outside, play with legos, watch a movie, play on the computer). Or maybe you could write chores on the fish. 

Next time, in honor of Valentine's Day, I will do a LOVE-ly craft!

Until then, keep crafting!

SB

Homemade Headband

Lacy Homemade Headband

Hi again, my blogger friends! I had an AWESOME weekend...my parents were in town, my sister and her fiance are back in the city, and I had great time celebrating a wonderful friend's birthday at dinner last night! With all of the excitement, I did not have a lot of time for crafting!

I decided to take a chance on a simple project I dreamed up on Friday! I have never sewn lace and have very little experience with elastic. And I have to say, it turned out GREAT!!!

Here's a picture of the finished project on!

Does that material look familiar?? Yup, you spotted it; it's the leftover lace from last week's wine bottles! Now, before I get started, I'll just tell you that this project is GREAT for using leftover material, so if you don't have lace (or that's not your style) just substitute any left over material...OK here we go!

First, gather all of your materials! (It's a sewing project...Sorry to you non-sewers!)

sewing machine, matching thread for spoon and bobbin, material,  elastic, measuring tape, scissors

Next, decide how thick you want your headband to be. I wanted an inch wide headband. You are going to be folding it to sew, so you will need to double the width and add a seam allowance (where you are sewing) of a half inch. I cut a 2.5 inch strip for my headband. You can make your's as thick or thin as you want (although really thin will make one step REALLY annoying). Just make sure you double the width you want then add .5 inch for a sew allowance.

By the way, I used the natural lines in the lace to make sure I cut a straight line. If you are using lace or another material that has straight lines, make sure to use them! Got to love sneaky short cuts!!!

Now, fold the strip in half "hotdog style" (haha...teacher term for the long way) and sew as CLOSE to the edge of the lace as possible.

OK, next, you need hide your sewing. You need to flip your tube inside out. This would be the annoying step for really thin headbands. Stick your pinky inside and pull the material with you pinky.

Once you have the material flipped, you are going to hide your messy ends. Step 1: try to flatten your tube so that your sewn end will make one edge of your headband (it still might look a little tubular, that's ok). Step 2: Fold one end over about a half inch. Step 3: To hide your messy edge, fold it over again. Let's call Steps 2 & 3 a burrito fold (I love food references). Then sew back and forth, using the back stitch, parallel to the edge of the material. Repeat on the other end.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Finished

Now, you may need a helping hand from a friend (thanks Jeremy). Get your elastic and hold it together with one edge of your material. Put the headband on your head like you would want to wear it. Hold the elastic with one edge of your headband on one side of your head. Have your helping hand hold the other edge of your material on the other side of your head. now pull your elastic across the bottom of your head (where you would want to wear this part of the headband) as tight as you possibly can. Once you have figured out how much elastic you need, release the material and hold on to your elastic. 

For my whoppa head, I needed about 2.75 inches. You may need more or less depending on the size of your head and how long your material is. You want your elastic to be snug to your head, or else the headband will fall off. 

NOW STOP! Don't cut the amount of elastic you need. Cut one inch more. This way, you will have a half inch on either side to sew onto your material. OK, you can cut now. Sew your elastic onto your material. Sew back and forth SEVERAL times. Remember, this is holding the headband on your head.

Repeat on the other side. Make sure your elastic isn't twisted, or it won't be comfortable to wear.

And, here's your finished product!!

Sewing projects require a little more explanation (thus the longer post), but if you are at all familiar with sewing, this is a really easy project. Start to finish, it took me under a half hour.

So, there are some ways you could change this project. Like I said before, if you don't have lace/don't like lace, use another material. Also, if you want a thicker or thinner band, that's easy to adjust!

Also, since this is such a scrap using project, if you don't have elastic at home (or don't feel comfortable using elastic), you could just add about another foot of material (or so) onto the ends, and tie the material together at the bottom (like a scarf). I think that would look really cute and will probably try it soon!

Next week, I'll try to go back to a non-sewing project for all my non-sewing friends!!

Until then, keep crafting!

SB

Lacy Wine Bottle Lanterns

Lacy Lanterns

I'm really excited for this post for LOTS of reasons! They include:

• I have never seen this idea anywhere else...it's an SB original!
• I thought of this idea months ago, but never got around to it.
• It's my first post on one of my wedding crafts!
• I've been working on it ALL week!

Here's the finished product:

And here's how I got there:

First, drink lots of wine in clear bottles (HUGE sacrifice, I know). Mom, don't worry...this part of the process was started a couple months ago, NOT at the beginning of the week!

 

Second, give your bottles a bath...no really! Put them in a HOT bathtub for about 15 minutes. You'll have to make sure water gets into the bottles, so the whole bottle stays submerged. 

Next, peel off the labels. If you are not a wine snob, Yellow Tail wine is good AND the labels peel off really easily! Once you have peeled all the wine bottles, grab your materials: the bottles, about a half of a yard of lace, scissors, white spray paint, Christmas lights, and tape. I started by using scotch tape, but soon realized that the blue paint tape worked a lot better.

After you have gathered your supplies, take one of your bottles, and wrap it in the lace. Once it is wrapped all the way around, cut the lace. Tape it off with the painter's tape. Repeat once more with another bottle. Take the wrapped bottles into a well ventilated area and spray! Let dry for a few hours.

By the way, this is the step that took me all week. I only did two bottles at a time, and reused the lace. I wasn't in a hurry and it saved money on lace. If you are in a hurry, or don't care about spending a few bucks more, buy a little more lace and do all at once.

Once you have all of your bottles sprayed and dried, it's time for the most time consuming (a little annoying) step. Put your lights in your bottles. I used between 5 and 7 lights per bottle with 1 or 2 lights between as spacing. Here's what one bottle looks like up close!

Now, there's a couple things you could choose to change about this project. I'm a big fan on the imperfect. All of the bottles have been spray painted for a different amount of time, causing differences in the lace contrast. If you would like them to all be the same, just pay attention to how long you are spraying each bottle. Also, if you look at the picture of all 7 bottles, you can see that the tops of the bottles are not as clearly lacy and nice as the thicker majority of the bottle. If you are a perfectionist, I'm sure there's a way to cut the lace to fit the top of the bottle. For me, it wasn't worth the headache...however, if you could think of a way to change it up, I'd LOVE to hear your ideas!

The second feature you may choose to change up is the thing I may want to change about this project. The lighting right now is just the Christmas lights stuffed into the tops of the bottles. If you have an idea of a better way to change the way the bottles are lighted, I'd love to hear it! I'll even change up my project, put the picture up on the blog, and....(wait for it)...write your name in my blog giving credit for the idea. I know, really exciting stuff!!! haha!!

I am having so much fun planning our wedding! I'm excited to put the little details into the wedding that will make the wedding our own! At our reception, we have a beautiful, second floor outdoor balcony attached to our room. I can just picture these lights outside, lighting up the conversations our guests will be having! 

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Durable Dog Toy

A Craft for Mosby

So, if you know me AT ALL, you know that I am (slightly) obsessed with dogs, particularly with my puppy, Mosby! My very crafty, very talented friend Cathryn taught me about this craft last year. I changed it just a little, but the idea is all hers! 

As Cathryn taught me how make fleece pajama pants last Christmas, she told me that you can make a cute dog toy with the scraps. I decided to make one for Mosby, with just a change or two. Here's the finished product.

(Spartan fans, please excuse the HORRIBLE pattern on this material. After MSU beating U of M FOUR YEARS RUNNING, I thought I better throw Jeremy a bone, by using his team colors for Mosby's toy.)

First, get some scraps of fleece and some scissors. 

Mosby loves to help with crafts!

Next, cut out 1 inch by 3 feet strips. These measurements are complete estimates, and the strips do not have to be perfect. If you have a bigger dog, make them wider. For my toy, I cut out 9 of these strips.

Now, take 3 strips. Tie them together at the top. Braid the strips together.

After braiding, tie the strips together at the bottom. To do this, I bunched two of the strips together, then tied them with the third strip. Repeat these steps 2 more times, so you have a total of 3 braids.

 Using another little piece of strap, tie the third braids together. Now, braid the three braids to make any EVEN bigger braid. Use another little piece of strap to tie off the big braid.

Your braid should now look like this. This can be the complete toy. Actually, this is the toy Cathryn taught me to make. It's a great tug of war rope!

I took it a step further. I shaped the rope into the circle. Then I took the little loose ends of the braids and tied them together. It's not a perfect art; just grab and tie!

Here's Mosby enjoying his toy! The little guy is loving it!

So, there's lots of reasons that I love this toy! First, fleece is SUPER stretchy! It's really hard for the dogs to tear apart. Second, it's CHEAP! It's made from scraps, so if your dog does destroy it, no biggie! Just grab some more straps and make another! Third, even if the toy starts to come apart, it breaks into smaller toys. First, the circle will become a rope; then it will turn into three little rope. The best part of the toy is there is no stuffing to clean up after!!!

If you want to make a toy for a bigger dog, it's really easy to do! Instead of using the 9 strips of fleece, use 27. Then, follow the steps I outline, instead of making one big braid, make 3. Braid the 3 together, and you have a great thick rope. I made one like this for our pit bull neighbor, Fate, last Christmas, and it took her a month to get through...I think that a world record for Fate's longest lasting toy!!

Til next week...Happy Crafting!

SB