Summer Daze Giveaway Event -- SNEAK PEEK

Woo hoo!!! It is almost here, the Summer Daze Giveaway Event hosted by While He Was Napping.
I wanted to give you a sneak peek on the item I will be giving away during this event.

Yep! It is a headband from my Nauti-CALI collection.
It will make an awesome addition to any Summer wardrobe.
If you want to pick one up now just visit my shop.

Early Preparations

I am starting some early preparations for Roly Poly's first birthday party,

which isn't until the end of July.

I know that you might think I am starting too early,

but really I bought the first party item in OCTOBER!!!!

Yes, October.

In addition to this,

I already have the invitations.

My friend Melissa who runs an awesome company called

BELLA ARTISTA

designed them.

I will be sharing them with you sometime soon.

However, today I want to share with you the little cloche that I made.

Yep.

Do you remember this cloche from my Spring Centerpiece Vignette?

Well, it has now been altered.

This was ALWAYS the plan when I purchased it.

I took the cloche and, well, I actually think it was some sort of drinking glass
because a candle could never have fit in it, and married them.

First, I spray painted each item with KRYLON Jade spray paint;

it matches the other decor that I have planned.

Then I used the trusty old E-6000 to adhere the "glass" to the bottom of the cloche.

Now it was a lovely pedastool.

Then I roughed up the trays edges with some sand paper to give it a more distressed look.

VOILA!!!!!!!!!

Pretty cloche in which the Roly Poly's smash cake will be displayed.

I am actually unsure about the distressing that I did.

I don't think that I did a very good job.

What do you think?

Should I repaint it so that it is all uniform?

Mimicking Mandi

I am sure you all know Mandi from Vintage Revivals.

She is pretty much the bees knees.

I mean, she's even been on TV.

Okay, so she made this SUPER awesome rug.

Yep!!!

Well, I wanted to create a rug of my own following 
some of her directions. 

Area rugs are just RIDICULOUSLY costly, 
so I thought this was a great way to save.

I had my eye out on these bathroom rugs 
that were in the Target clearance section.

I watched the price drop and drop 
until I found it to be acceptable.

Then, I snatched all the rugs that they had up;

of course I laid them all together in the middle 
of a Target aisle first to make sure my idea looked good.

I came home with 8 bathroom rugs.

This was a price totaling under $20, 
which would have originally been the price of just two.

Yippee!!!

The only other supplies that I now needed were 
scissors to cut the tags and carpet tape.

I bought this carpet tape at Home Depot.

I laid out my design again.

Then I switched a couple around for uniformity.

For some reason one rug just had way more blue than white.

There is absolutely nothing that I can do about it though.

Once my layout was set, I flipped all of the rugs over

and began to tape.

It took a total of two packages of tape 
in order to complete the project (really one 1/4 packages).

Here is the final result as it now sits in my front living area. 

In some ways it's a Monet

(gorgeous from afar and a mess up close).

Up close you can clearly see the seams.
Actually,
 that one row of seams is even ridiculously 
apparent in these photos,

but for $30 total cost I really cannot complain.

Coaster Garland

This is a little post that a put together a few weeks ago,
and shared with the readers over at 
Luxe Boulevard.


If you visited Stephanie earlier in the month,
thanks for sharing the love.


If not . . . 

Today, I have a quick and simple tutorial 

for all of you wonderful ladies.


Over in my part of Blogland I craft 
and create for my home and my boys.
Today's tutorial is a home based tutorial.

Summer is nearly here,

and this means it is time to start 

shifting around decor.

My "regular" decor;
stuff like what you see here;

The Cuban Cowboy bought my the Kitchen Fairy for my birthday.
He loves my macaroni and cheese, so it is fitting.

is essentially my Summer decor

because it is up after Easter,

 which is typically earlier than this year,

until the first of October when I bring out Halloween.

I like the calm that this decorating season brings

because my social life is hectic in the summer,

as I am sure is true for many of you.

Okay, so let's get started on our 

first Summer project.

I am sure it will only be one of many that 

is completed over the next few weeks.

This project was actually inspired by 

ad different set of coasters 

that I purchased with the intention of making the garland,

but I couldn't find them when I went to get started.

I have NO clue where they went.

I had already told Stephanie what I would be doing,

so I was frantic.

Then, I remembered that I had these strawberries coasters 

from a few years back.

Phew! Relief.

Here's what you are going to need.

• Cardboard Coaster (Michael's often has various varieties in their $1 spot ~now $1.50 spot at mine)
• Twine/jute
• Hot Glue Gun/Glue Sticks
• Scrap Felt
• Vinyl or Stickers

This is SUPER DUPER simple. Promise.

First, you are going to cut your twine, err on the side of excess.

Then fold the twine in half to find the center.

Like so.

Now, I had 7 coasters, so I adhered 
the first one at this center point.

If you have an even number

 then use the center as a reference point for

adhering the first two coasters on either side.

I adhered the coasters by running a thin line of hot glue about 1/2 inch down from the top. 

I then laid the twine across the glue.

Next, I took a piece of scrap felt cut 

from this FAILED Easter jacket.

I added a little more hot glue on top of the twine 

and adhered the felt for stability.

To keep accurate distance between each coaster,

I laid the first coaster to one side of my hot glue gun plate;

I always use a paper plate to glue on top of.

I then laid the next coaster in the center of the plate.

I kept this up for each coaster.

After I had added three to one side of the initial coaster,

I switched the oh so scientific method of measurement 

to the other side of the plate and repeated until 

all coasters were in place.

Now we are ready for our letters.

Since I own a Cricut

I cut my word out using white vinyl.

However, if you do not own a Cricut or Silhouette, you can use ABC Letter Stickers. I would choose these 

awesome Creative Memories ones.

They are such a great size and font for projects like this.

I chose the word Summer,

and I used the Cricut font Cuttin Up 

on the Serif setting.

I cut at 2 1/2 inches because the coasters are 

about 4 inches in diameter.

Since I was short one letter, 

I used my Cricut Indie Art Cartridge to cut out a Strawberry.

Strawberries are my FAVORITE,

they were the print of the coasters I used,

and they are essentially the theme of my kitchen.

I adhered each letter to the center of a coaster.

Voila!

It was now ready to hang.

I am pleased as punch with the result.


Here's a little look at where and how 
I actually hung it in my kitchen.


I just used little white finishing nails.

And it looks like this.

I hope that you are able to create something as fun and simple for your kitchen or other room this Summer.

I would love to see it if you did.

{What I Wore Wednesday} Shabby Chic Summer

This year I find myself drawn to the shabby chic

 Summer florals and muted colors that are on the racks. 

I love the romantic softness that they convey.

This week I picked up a great tank top at 

Target that fits this style.

They are on sale for $6 until Saturday.

I also had a $3 off any Mossimo women's apparel item coupon.

So I payed $3.

YIPPEE!!!!!

Did you know that Target had coupons online?

Did you know that they have them for their apparel?

Well, they do.

To check out Target's coupons click here.

(Not a payed advertisement. I just LOVELOVELOVE Target).

Okay, so today's simple, shabby chic, Summer style.

First, this may officially be the worst pose EVER, but too late now.

Top: Mossimo/Target, Jeans: Levi's COSTCO, Necklace Nordstrom

I thought that the olive colored beads helped 

bring out the green of the leaves.

And of course, 

my new Tom's that I bought with my Birthday Money 

a few weeks back.

I am so glad that I went with the brown, 

but I think that I want some off white ones too.

Maybe black also.

Okay, so maybe every single color 
because they are so incredible awesome.

Fat Arms

Okay, so last week I shared some tips on how to avoid the Summer chafe,

well today I want to talk about my fat arms.

You may think I am exaggerating, but even at my 135 wedding weight,

my arms we're large.

This is in part because they gain muscle easily,

it is also just the way God built me.

Well, it can cause some fashion difficulties and discomfort,

especially in button-up blouses or dresses.

Case in point.

A lovely, blue, floral dress that I purchased from Forever 21 while I was prego.

I thought that it would be a great nursing dress 
because of the button front.

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

Roly Poly is 10 months and I just fit in it, barely.

Also, dress?

More like shirt.

Seriously, the bottom button was mid feminine region.

Ach!!!

Well, thank goodness for leggings.

I just had to squeeze my chunka munka arms into the sleeves.

They did not fit.

They got stuck.

Yes, the circulation was cut off and silk doesn't have stretch.

SOLUTION=SCISSORS

The seam is maybe 1/2 inch, if that.

Yes, right before I left for my cousins shower I cut the bottom (armpit) seam open with scissors.

A seam ripper would work as well.

Much better!!!!

Now I was ready to go.

Dress: Forever 21, Yellow Belt: from Maternity shirt, Yellow Necklace: Forever 21

No, I did not sew the raw edge.

No time.

I was running late.

Maybe I will.

Maybe I won't.

Who knows?

I mean is anyone really looking under the pits?

What fashion quick fixes have you resorted to?

Super Quick--Run To Target

I just had to share the awesomness that I found at Target today.

Look!!!!!

Too cute, right?

Roly Poly kept trying to take it off, 
so no photo of him in it,

but it is PERFECT for any bloggy baby.

That's all for now.

LOVES!

Coming to an ETSY shop near you

I am SOOOOO excited about my latest creation(s).

Really I love them.

I feel like this may just be the piece that defines my shop.

At least, that is what I want it to be.

Here's a little sneak peek.

What do you think? 

Do you love them as much as I do?

I know that the Cuban Cowboy did.

In fact,

He said,

"Those look like you bought them."

I was flattered, especially coming from him.

He is the oh so brutally honest type, which totally works for me.

Okay, so I will also be giving one away here when I reach 100 followers.

Plus, I will be doing a few giveaways throughout Blogland to promote my new product.

Seriously. I love it!!!!!!

Linked to Eisy Morgan and others. For a complete Link list go to my Linky Love Tab.

Shiny Happy People

I shared this project last Friday, so almost a week ago, 
over at I Heart My Glue Gun.


In case you didn't catch it there,
especially in the Blogger Melee,
here it is for your crafting pleasure.


I don't know why, but this little craft project 
reminded me of the REM song

Shiny Happy People.

Most likely it is because this project involves 
a daffodil of sorts,

and daffodils make me a shiny, happy person.

This project was created from repurposed shorts pockets

(left over from this project)

a bit of yellow tulle

Twine

A Golf Pencil or crayon

And these note printables I created


This project took very little time to whip up,
and I just adore that it allows me 
to leave The Cuban Cowboy a cute note 
while I am running around like a mad woman.


So here is what you do.


First you take your left over pockets and pin them 
wrong sides together.
Top Stitch these pieces.
I used contrasting yellow thread 
and a zig zag stitch for dimension.

Now make the daffodil
(this is the most time consuming part,
 but it is still pretty quick)
First cut your tulle into a circle
and then bunch it up like a cone.

This is the daffodil center.

Set aside.


Now cut 6 petal shapes, 
as seen in the pocket photo above.
Using the petals make a flower shape and stitch.

This is the base.


Next,you are going to place the center 
that you created earlier atop the base.

Now you are going to sew this onto the base part.

This takes some eying and creativity, 
but just work with it until you see the right shape.


Next, attach the daffodil to the pocket.

You are now ready to make a handle by adding the twine.
Cut about a five inch length of twine.
Set it inside your pocket pouch.
Stitch across each end, making sure it is tightly secured.

Now the pouch is complete.

So I went to my computer and I created this simple notecards.
You can simply download them here.

This is the shape and size before I manipulated them to print 
and fit into the pocket.

I love how they carry the daffodil idea through.
I used my trimmer to cut them up and I slipped them
  inside the pouch.


I attached a crayon using a second piece of twine.
I just tied it to the existing handle.


Then I hung the pouch, note cards and all, 
on the door knob at the end of our hall 
because that's where we exit our home.

I love little projects like this because they are fast,
but have the ability to brighten up 
an otherwise bland area, like a doorknob.