My Little Prince!

Or drum major, the Music Man... whatever people thought he was, the one consensus was that he was stinkin' cute!  Defninite success here!  First I found the idea and tutorial on Pinterest.  I went on Fabric.com and scored big time.  I got not only all the fabric and trim to make his costume but three different decorator fabrics for various places around my home for under $30 shipped.  I think that was more exciting than the costume itself.  Let me also preface this with a warning.  I undertook making a suit for my 2 year old.  I've never even made anything with sleeves.  Any dress or skirt I've ever made for myself had straight, simple lines.  I made Gibson a pair of shorts for his birthday.  That was the same way I made the pants which were ridiculously simple and I hot glued many of my decorations.  I could have sworn I took pictures of my process, but I've searched my google+ and my phone, and nada.  So you will have to settle for the finished product.

Steph brought him to school so I could take him straight to Irving to Gilbert's Trunk or Treat.  Of course he went straight to the closet and got out the vacuum.  Who knew Prince Charming liked to clean?!

Taking a water break from handing out candy.  This was not my intention, but he was so excited to pass out candy to the Trick or Treaters.  Only one kid scared him.  I had only bought 2 bags of candy cause I did not want leftovers, 2 4-packs of mandarin oranges and a bag of Cuties.  Even the teenagers did not complain about getting fruit because a pint-sized Prince Charming was handing it to them.  Pure Genious! 

He would not stand still!  Just too excited!

At about 8, we passed out our last cutie and the boy was done.  My son, standing on the front porch of our home went from Prince Charming to Magic Mike.  He handed out the last Cutie and started stripping on the porch.  Took off the jacket (which I was too lazy to sew buttons and buttonholes so was velcro-ed on), then the undershirt, I stopped laughing long enough to get him inside before the pants came off too!  This boy never ceases to make me smile.  Charm out the wazoo with or without costume!

Yarn Wrapped Wreath!

This was actually a before Pinterest project.  I follow Myra over at My Blessed Life and she posted the cutest tutorial for a teal wreath.  Wow.  I've made three of them and I love them all!

This was the first attempt that I made from the tutorial... it's embarrassing how long this stayed on my door, but I didn't want to change it!

And from there, I made two more...

Seriously easy, versitile, and best of all, cheap!

Wall Art

Ok, so my friend Stephanie was re-doing her girls' rooms for their birthday.  She created boards with ideas for both rooms.  She pinned this picture of wall art from Etsy.

I thought it was cute, looked easy enough so I said I would make it.  HAHAHA.  I should have clicked on the pin before I spoke up.  Figured being on pinterest, it would be a link to a tutorial.  So I knew I wasn't going to stretch fabric (because apparently finding chevron fabric in stock in dfw is like finding leprechaun gold) so I bought a canvas, some gray paint and so pool blue felt, set everything out and clicked.  Its a link to an Etsy store where this talented lady sells these suckers for $34 plus shipping!  Ok, so plan B.  I found a tutorial for a felt flower pillow and improvised.

First, I painted on the chevron stripes.  Then added the felt to make a flower.  I think it turned out super cute.

Well, I couldn't make such cute original wall art for one girl and not the other.  So on to Lauren's room.  This girl is in love with zebra, pink, and bling.  So this is what I came up with...

You thought I was done right?  I had an extra canvas (Darn you Hobby Lobby and your 3 packs!) so I tried the flower with different colors...  I think it's cute, but I have no where to put it, doesn't go with a thing in my house so if you know where this can find a home, it is yours!

The Afton Skirt

I still laugh when I look at the picture of this skirt.  You will not see a picture of my version... ever.  It was easy just as they said.  The tutorial was great.  It didn't take long and laid out looked how it was supposed to.  And then I put it on.  As Pete the Cat would say, "Goodness, No!"  EPIC FAIL.  This skirt was not made for chubby short girls.  If you are above 5'5" and wear a 10 or smaller, this is a great look. 

http://sewlikemymom.com/

Caramel Chocolate Pretzels

Ok... I saw this at the time where I happened to have all the ingredients which is rare.  I don't buy things like chocolate chips because if there is an open bag, I will eat them all.  I didn't want to make chocolate chip cookies.  I had bought a giant bag of pretzels as snack for Gibbs and he was getting tired of them.  My mom was here and she has a ginormous sweet tooth so I figured why not.  It was delicious!  I didn't cook it long enough so it didn't set and was a huge gooey mess, but put it in a bowl, grab a spoon and it was totally edible.  And Gibson liked the gooey messiness so that was just a bonus!

http://mamasaywhat.com/salted-caramel-pretzel-bark/

Pepperoni Rolls

I'd had a different version of this.  The fabulous Mix and Match Mama makes some awesome pinwheels and I had tried them with pepperoni and mozzerella.  So I thought that I would give this version a whirl.  It was so yummy!  And I think I made it twice in one week eating it for lunch and dinner.  Gibson liked it and I used turkey pepperoni (so delicious, cheaper and less greasy and calorie packed than the regular), reduced fat pre-shredded italian cheese mix, and crescent roll sheets.  I kinda burned out on them, but looking at them now... I know what we are having for dinner later this week!

http://whataboutpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/pepperoni-rolls.html

I call this one a success!

Pop of Color

All these ideas on pinterest for the home have a common thread for me... a pop of color.  Looking around my living room, I realized it was pretty bland.  Lots of gold, brown, and earth tones.  The rug has some rust and navy.  The couch has some jade and rust, but it is so small and muted that it is hard to see.  I have a painting that I love that has the teal/jade color that I love and I wanted to bring it out.  I was successful with a great fabric I (i.e. my mom) found for my valance.  I just wanted a little bit more.  Then I saw this...

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/03/birthday-week-birthday-box.html

As much as I absolutely love this, it made me so nervous.  I have a bookshelf in my entry way.  The only way you can see it is if you are in the living room.  So I decided to give it a try.  Now, the color in the picture is not really what it looks like in real life, but I'm so in love how it turned out.  Now if only my child would grow up so I could decorate the bottom shelves :)

This took one night y'all!  My mom took Gibson to her house the weekend of my birthday.  Saturday I bought the paint thinking I would do it soon.  That night I went to a play, came home and thought, why not!  Taping took the longest.  Two coats of paint later and voila!

The Birthday Box

We were invited to a one year old's birthday party.  This little girl is precious.  I knew this little girl would get tons of clothes and she and her older sister have so many toys.  I wanted to get her something that was a keepsake or at least something that would last beyond this one birthday.  So I searched pinterest and found this:

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/03/birthday-week-birthday-box.html



It's a neat concept, inside the box are cards with questions that you fill out every year on your birthday and attach a picture.  So, easy right?!  First, I needed a box.  I didn't have any shoe boxes and didn't really want to use one.  Bingo!  Paper mache boxes at Hobby Lobby!  I found a cute little suitcase and painted it white as a base.  Birthday girl's room is painted silver.  Her bedding is black and white with pink accents.  So I painted grey and white chevron stripes on the sides.  A border of pink around the top a little bit of black, her name and boom!  It was fun to make and her mom seemed to like it so I'm calling this one a success!

A base coat of white

Pink letters and border

Chevron stripes, black trim and done! 

What do you pinterest?

For about six months, I pinned everything.  I was obsessed.  All these great ideas, things for your house, your self, your style, gift ideas, parties, recipes, etc.  I pinned to my hearts content and then came to the sad realization that all these super easy wonderful ideas were sitting on a virtual bulletin boards.  I didn't try anything.  I would mention pins, "I saw something like that on pinterest!" I hadn't actually done anything.  I decided that needed to change.  I actually started doing some things I pinned.  Some things worked, some didn't.  I created a new board, "Tested and loved... or hated."  As I was going through things I've tried recently and making my notes on what was good, what was bad, I came to the realization that maybe other people might do the same.  Or some people might want to know from someone who has actually done stuff and how easy (or incredibly difficult) and how awesome (or an epic fail) pins were.  Granted, some things link to blogs where people have tutorials on how to do things.  For craft things, they are usually pretty accurate, but for recipes it can be very subjective.  Anyway, here are the things I have tried.