Hearts for Hair

Here's a quick how-to on those cute felt heart hair clips that you see in my girls' hair above. This is for all of you who don't sew...this is a really easy beginner project that just requires some simple stitching with a needle and thread. There are so many possibilities with embroidery thread and it's the cheapest craft/hobby out there and also the easiest! Not to mention how happy it is to look at all those colors together:


So for those little hearts, you'll need:
felt scraps
contrasting embroidery thread & needle
snap clip or barrette
polyfill stuffing (optional)
superglue or fabric glue

Start by cutting out two hearts of the same size & shape. Mine was smaller for Kate than Jane. Heart size depends on head size of kid.


Using a running stitch, sew the two hearts together. Don't tie a knot at the beginning, just leave a long tail.


When you're three-quarters done, use the tiniest bit of polyfill to stuff the little guys. This is optional. It would be super cute not stuffed too. Use a chopstick or straw to stuff the stuff in.




Then continue stitching the rest of the way around and tie the two long ends together and snip (don't snip too close, we'll go back and snip closer later). See the knot at the bottom? This side will be the back.


Sew the snap clip onto the back of the heart using strong thread (I used upholstery thread) or you could also separate three single strands from your embroidery thread and use that. Two stitches for the fat end and one stitch through the hole in the skinny end. When you're done, use a dot of superglue or fabric glue on each knot and also on the knot on the bottom of the heart. Those knots won't hold otherwise. Let glue dry before you put the heart in small fry's hair (hahaha!!!) After glue dries, go back and snip the threads as close as you can.


Done!

Crayon Shaving Heart Garland

Remember making these as a kid? Fall leaves or butterflies? Well I got the idea for hearts from Martha. Hers came out prettier than mine, doesn't she always do everything better than everyone else? Stinking Martha. Here's hers:



We had fun making them...Jane did all the sprinkling and I did all the ironing and cutting.





Kate was busy with stickers, but when I got up to go to the bathroom, she pulled the entire tablecloth off the table and all the crayon shavings were on the floor. Stinker!!! Jane helped me clean it up and we started over.



Then we strung them with a needle and thread and hung them. It was hard to get a good picture in front of the window, but you get the idea. Do you like our extremely sad, gray weather out there??? I do not.





I'll be back tomorrow with another Valentine craft! If you need directions on the crayon shaving hearts, click here.

Almost February!!!

I think January is my least favorite month. All that post-holiday sadness and crappy gray weather. I remember the day Jane was born (May 18th), John's brother Jim was driving to the hospital to see us and said he heard on the radio that May 18th is the happiest day of the year. Of course we thought so with our perfect new little girl..........but then they said the saddest day of the year is January 7th. Do you agree? I do......other than the fact that that's my mom's birthday...I had to laugh at that. Sorry, Mom!!! Anyway...I think that's why I love Valentine's Day so much. The end of January means I can start to craft/decorate for Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong....of course I hated Valentine's day during my teenage/college years just like every other girl. I love it now that I have kids partly because I know how much they love it and look forward to every holiday. To me it's really more about the kids and not all that romantic roses/chocolate crap that it's been commercialized as.

Sorry for rambling. Remember how long I've been away from the blog? Now I have lots to say!!! I know you're out there listening, my blog traffic software says that you are...not to mention how many people told me I needed to post! So if you're reading this, please take a minute to post a comment...especially if you never have....just so I know you're out there! Your comments are what keep me going, and up until now I mostly get comments in person but I'd love to have more on here. If I can get more feedback I will start having contests and giveaways!!! Yay! You know you want something free! Leave a comment!

I will be back very soon to show you how to make a 30 minute (or less) personalized shirt for your favorite little loved one!



In the mean time, click here to take a look at my post last year about a very easy and sweet Valentine garland that you can make to remind yourself how lucky you are to have love in your life (and how happy you are to be done with January!)

If you want to make your own click here for a quick tutorial!

Happy 2010!

Once again, this is old news, so I'm going to attempt to post everything I've missed without too many words. I need to use some words...it's just been way too long!



Santa brought Jane a Tinkerbell dress. She hates it. She said it's "for Halloween". We're going to try to return it to Disney World this summer. :(


Jane got a scooter too (a Mini Kick....it's awesome). Kate rode it when she wasn't looking:








Grandpa Bob's famous Kitchen Rides:




Of course there was a Snuggie:


Great Grandma Fang was here:


Then, a week at my parents' house in Detroit:




Noah reeeeeeeally wanted to get in the picture with the girls...so cute!!!








We spent New Year's Eve at my brother Steve's house with my good friend Gena and her family. It was her son Avery's 6th birthday.






Steve & Tina had trick candles so the kids got to blow them out many times!!! See all the smoke?






We took a trip to my Uncle Mike's farm in Adrian, MI. My mom's ENTIRE family was there (almost). The house was filled to the brim. So much fun and so great to see everyone!!! Everyone wanted to explore all the barns...below is the old outhouse. It was 347 degrees below zero that day, otherwise I'd have lots more pictures of the outside!!!




The kids got to meet cousins they didn't even know they had. This is only about one-fourth of the kids. Did anyone else get a better picture of everyone together?












I got to see my cousins too! Almost all of them!!! But I only got one picture...me & Lynnie.


See that tree behind us??? Uncle Mike has the best Christmas trees and ornaments!






Oh, and one more thing...Jane tried Coke for the first time. She had no idea why she had been missing out on this delicioius sweet liquid for so long!!!


Sorry, I should have posted this weeks ago. I know no one wants to look at Christmas pictures anymore. I promise to be a better blogger in 2010! I'm working on some more time-appropriate material to share with you...Valentine's Day stuff!

Be back soon!!!