Dragonfly Clip Tutorial!

I am not even sure if a tutorial is necessary for these, you can probably just look at the picture and be able to tell how to make them but just in case....



Start by covering your 2 alligator clips with some cute ribbon. If you aren't sure how to do this check out this link for a tutorial on that

Choose a thinner ribbon for the wings, cut out 4 pieces all the same size

Using hot glue, make them into circles

Make the circles into figure 8's by gluing two opposite ends together.

Glue two wings together, layer them slightly or whatever way you want and put rhinestones or buttons or something else cute in the middle! If your kid has fine hair you may want to glue a no slip grip on the inside of the clip so it will stay in better. I get mine on ebay along with the alligator clips!

FRAMES!!!

There are so many neat things you can do with picture frames other then the norm. Here are some of the ways I have put those frames I had just laying around in my garage to good use!

First, I saw this way cute idea on make it and love it. It's a dry erase board! For my family it's our new grocery list! I don't think I ever realized you can use dry erase markers on glass like that but it does make sense! I love the idea of having such a cute grocery list only I thought it would be nice to make it a magnet to hang on the fridge. So I just took an old frame and added some cute scrapbook paper that would match with my kitchen and came up with this...

Then on the back I just added some old magnets we had laying around! It holds well, but keep in mind the frame is cheap and very light weight!

I spent 59 cents on scrapbook paper. I already had everything else, so this was a super cheap project!


Once again, I came across another cute idea on make it and love it! I know I already have a bow holder, but I had to try this one out! I didn't want to cover the frame with fabric, because I liked the frame a lot. So I just added some girly fabric with ribbon going diagonal.


Make it and love it is such a good blog! I didn't realize it until now, but I got this idea from that blog as well. We had this boring white board/cork board we purchased from the thrift store that really needed some help!

Before...

After...

Our office is so boring, what a perfect opportunity to add some color with some fabric I had been saving for something like this. I was lucky enough to have a frame in my garage that fit perfectly!
I also made some square thumbtacks out of the same fabric to match with a tutorial on how about orange. So after a little cleaning up and some color, I think it looks much better!

Homemade Laundry Soap

I am into saving money, but I didn't know I was capable of taking it this far! When people talk about this kind of thing I usually don't pay much attention. Homemade laundry detergent? It seems like homemade stuff like that would have tons of weird ingredients that I would never be able to find! But it's sooooo simple, I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't! All you need is borax, washing soda and a bar of soap! You can get the borax and washing soda I'm pretty sure at any grocery store on the laundry aisle. I got mine at Smiths so I know they have it there for sure. Click Here for my favorite tutorial on how to make this stuff! You can also check here for other recipes, they all have the same ingredients pretty much, just different proportions. A few tips the first tutorial does not mention, you should have a lid for your bucket, and you need to shake or stir well before each use. Oh and this is good stuff, I like it a lot better then the cheapo detergent we had been buying! Good luck and if anyone makes it let me know how you like it!

Polka Dot Onesie!

Remember the shoe boxes I covered with a receiving blanket here? Well I had just a tiny bit of fabric left over. So this is what I made....

I love polka dots!
I cut out the circles from the fabric, then I just use iron-on adhesive from the craft store. I used the no-sew kind so we will see how it washes! It seems to be stuck on there pretty dang good! I have some cute ribbon to match that I want to try to do ruffles on the butt with. I am not the best at sewing so if anyone knows any easy tutorials on how to do it please share!

StArBuRsT!

I saw this idea on HGTV and have been wanting to do it for some time. Its a starbusrt! The only problem is for this to be "cheap" the way I insist on, you need to use tinker toy you have laying around or that you find at the thrift store for cheap, if you buy tinker toy new it just isn't worth it because they are like $15-$20! So basically you just take tinker toy and build it like the picture shows.

Then you spray paint it (semi-gloss works best for this) I used brown because it matches my bedroom but I think it would be fun to do a multi-colored pink, green, and brown one for Eden's room, be creative! Then hot glue little mirrors around it and one in the middle. Very simple!

Tinker Toy: $1
Spray paint: $ 1.12
2 packages of mirrors from Michaels: $3.24
Total cost: $5.36

Storing spooless ribbon

This is how I have been storing my ribbon that is not on a spool. I use index cards and fold them in half, then I just wrap the ribbon around it and put a little piece of tape on the end. You can probably also use cardboard or popsicle sticks or something like that. I was also thinking you could use old empty thread spools? Then it would probably be able to go on a ribbon organizer like mine in the post below!! I need to try that! Until then, card stock type paper works just fine. It may not look that organized but it's a lot better then having it all shoved in a bag!

More Storage Solutions!

I love to keep things organized and I have quickly learned that ribbon is a tough one to keep organized and looking neat. I finally found what I was looking for to help me with my ribbon issues on my thrift store adventures today. I found this perfect piece of wood with holes already drilled into it! It was a dollar and it even had a turn table on the bottom! What a bonus!
All I had to do was stick some dowels in the holes! It's nice because I can see what I have where as before it was all in a bag and just a huge mess! You can make one of these with a piece of wood, a drill and some dowels. Check your thrift stores!

Here is how I have been storing Eden's bows and clips. Its a wooden frame with her picture and I just glued 5 pieces of long ribbon on the bottom to clip the bows on. It looks a little busy to me so I keep it behind her door where it's not seen much, but I still like it! I don't know how else to store them, she just has too many!