DIY Glitter Glass Ornaments

Something about Christmas begs everything to be sparkled, doesn't it? If you love sparkles but not the mess that comes with them, then these ornaments might just make your Christmas very merry! 

They're super sparkly, super easy to make, and best of all... all the glitter is on the INSIDE! So there is NO MESS! Woo hoo!!!

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

These super-simple ornaments are made from a dough with TWO ingredients. And they smell faaaaaaabulous daaaaahhhhling! Make a few for yourself and a few to give as gifts! 

Ready to make them? Ok here are the ingredients:

Super Simple Christmas Card Display

This is officially the quickest, easiest DIY idea on my site. If you have Christmas cards running amuck, try this simple way to display them! Just clip them to a ribbon running down your kitchen cabinets. As you get more cards, add another ribbon. I glued some spare ribbon on some clothes pins to use to attach the cards, but you could also just use paper clips. 

Super Simple Slushy Icepacks (& Boo Boo Bears!)

This freezer pack is super simple to make with just water an alcohol and is great to use as a cold pack! When you remove it from the freezer, if it feels solid, just smoosh it around a bit with your fingers and it re-slushifies and will be squishy again, which is much nicer to drape over an injury or sore muscles than a rock-hard chunk of ice.  


To make it you'll just need:
3 parts rubbing alcohol
8 parts water
2 Ziploc bags or 1 Foodsaver bag

Instructions:

Freezer Paper Stenciling

Imagine my dismay when I was wearing a a brand new pair of pants and I splattered them with oil the FIRST time I EVER wore them. I was heartbroken, but what is a girl to do? Oil splattered pants just aren't my style.


FREEZER PAPER to the rescue! Yes, you heard me right, freezer paper. Who knew it was so handy?!? It's cheap too. Just check this out!!! You can't see any oil splatters now can you? 



And, just look at how a freezer paper stenciled tiger can brighten a little boy's day, taking his sweat pants from drab to fab!

Want to know more? I thought so. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD TUTORIAL

Best Ever Hot/Cold Packs!!

Supplies:
tube socks (pre-washed) 
filler (dry corn or beans PLUS dried herbs like lavender) 

Directions: 

Cut off the tube portion of the sock, which is what you'll be using for the hot/cold pack. Turn the sock inside out and sew the raw (just cut) end closed. Then turn the sock right side out and fill it to the desired level with your filler and sew up the other end. 

Some people use rice for the filler, but it doesn't heat as nicely and starts to smell funny over time, which is why I opt for the corn or beans. To buy cheap, dried corn, just go to a feed store for small amounts or a tractor supply store for large quantities. 

Universal Shopping Cart Cover & High Chair Cover (Sewing Tutorial)

Since babies like to gnaw on icky things like shopping carts and restaurant high chairs, here's a handy cover to keep stashed in the car. It makes a nice baby shower gift too! 

We received two different covers as gifts but both were so elaborate with straps and velcro and extras that they were a major pain to use. I gotta say that simple is better!!! Here's what I came up with for a cover that fits shopping carts and even can be used for high chairs. It has no ties or velcro... it just stretches on. No need to buy a store pattern, just follow my tutorial. I wish I had this with our first son!!! 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD TUTORIAL!

Home Made Playdough Recipes

Play-Dough-Making Tips:

• Try using baby oil in place of cooking oil in play dough recipes- it smells better, won't mold, and remains soft for a long time. (Unless your kids tend to eat the play dough... then you'd better stick w/ cooking oil!) 
• Another way to make your play dough smell better is to use some vanilla or orange extract.
• To make play dough last longer, use cream of tartar and/or store it in the fridge. 
• For colored playdough: add food coloring, Kool-Aid or Gelatin mix to the water. To make several colors out of one batch, divide the finished dough into balls, then drip liquid coloring in a well down the middle (you can use a straw for this) and knead it in. 
• For brown colored playdough: add Crystal Light Original Iced tea or cocoa with the water.
• For sparkly play dough, add in glitter during the hand-mixing/kneading.
• Store all play-dough in an air-tight container or Ziploc bag.
• *All recipes on this page are non-edible! (You can google for an edible play-dough recipe, but I'd rather use cookie dough if we're going to eat it!)

Hoppy Halloween! (Frog & Tadpole Costume Tutorials)

Here are the costumes I whipped up for my boys this year:

DIY Baby's Sleep Sack (Sewing Tutorial)

When our little guy outgrew his 0-9 mo sleep sack at age 6 mo, I came up with this pattern for a new one that will be plenty long for his growing little legs. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD TUTORIAL!

 
One of my readers, Sarah S, used my tutorial to make a sleep sack for her son. She wrote me back, glad for the  "super easy sleep sack pattern". She's a beginning seamstress and thought it was very easy to make. Here's hers, modeled by her sweet little Sammy:

Thanks for sharing Sarah!

No Sweat Sweat Pants!

Want to make some pajama / sweat pants for yourself or the kiddos? Here's how to do it without buying a pattern!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD TUTORIAL

Fleece Hat with Ear Flaps - Tutorial and Printable Pattern!

This is one of my favorite sewing projects... it's cute, warm, practical, and so so versatile. I have a downloadable pattern available to print for babies to adults!

Above I added little pom poms but you can add simple animal eyes or ears, or any number of variations to make each hat unique and fun. I used this same pattern when making the hat for my son's frog Halloween costume... 

Rag Quilt Sewing Tutorial

This is the quilt that anyone can make, even if you've never sewn before! If you're at all intimidated by making traditional quilts, then this is the quilt for you! It's very doable. And you can make it in any size you want- for babies to adults.  

Here's what one of my quilts looks like:

DIY Custom Artwork for the Nursery

Just because you're not using a store-bought set doesn't mean you can't have some coordinating artwork in the baby's room. In our first son's room I accented with Curious George, who was on a wall clock, some fabric I used in his quilt, and displayed a bit on a shelf. For the artwork, I used a couple Curious George calendar pages, trimmed them to get rid of the little nail hole, then glued them down to a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper which looked like matting. Then I painted wooden frames, and voila! Curious George artwork! 

Another option is to make some custom artwork, using Mod Podge and a little creativity. For this project, I found a pack of coordinating scrapbook papers that also coordinated with the fabric colors I was using in in my second son's nursery.  I bought a 12x12" paper pack to cover the 8x8 canvases, since I needed extra inches to go around the edges. Then I drew out the designs I wanted  (based on my favorite images from a google image search), cut them out from the scrapbook paper, and mod podged them to art canvases. Here they are:  

Have you made your own cute nursery wall-art? Email me your photos and I'll share them here! 

My Favorite Bible Study Books

Books for Topical Studies:

• Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible: in leather or in hard cover. This is my favorite topical study bible because they have a phenomenal chain reference system that is uniquely theirs. It uses scripture to interpret scripture, instead of injecting man's interpretations into the study notes. They also have a great treasury of study aids by topic in the back. LOVE this bible!
• Ready Reference for Growing Christians: Facts & Scriptures on 100 Biblical Subjects by Paul Sain
• The Christian's Attitude (52 lessons), by Bobby K. Thompson. (to order, call: (813) 723-9183)

Books for Evidence Studies: