~Ruffles And Stuff~

Snow Beautiful

2012-01-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

It's snowy at our house.

We haven't had much opportunity to be out in it yet, but the other day as I was on my way to a friend's house, I saw this out my windshield and I just couldn't help but stop and snap a couple of photos:

(I know--no coat!! Bad Mommy. It really was only about 30 seconds, I promise.)

Dear God:

If the only thing you ever did for me was create snow, I would still be worshipping you.

Thanks for making the world so pretty to look at. :O)

Have a beautiful day, readers!

Love you,

Disney

Easy Button Earrings Tutorial

2012-01-23T00:09:00.000-08:00

Did you know...that you can make new earrings with a button and a paperclip?

True story!

I've been trying to think of a way for us to make some earrings without having to buy supplies. Buying the beads and all the findings can really add up. :o( Sad.

But-oh, what? Walmart sells lots of pretty little buttons like this for less than $2. Excellent! :o)

That still leaves the findings. But who needs those when you have a paperclip? Try this:

Clip the top of the paperclip off with wire cutters:

Snap off the button shanks:

Glue the paperclip to the back of the button. (If your button has holes like mine, you can also bend the clip into a circle and hang the button on it.)

Open the loop at the bottom of your earring hook by bending it outward and hook it onto your paper clip. Bend back.

And...pretty new earrings!

Walmart was out of gold sparkly ones (I like gold.) but here are some cute ones I found on Walmart.com(about $1-$2):

And some cute ones on Etsy:

This Etsy shop has infinity cute buttons, you have to see it.

(click photos to see where to buy them!)

Of course, you may have some on hand just waiting to use! Better check your button box. :O)

Hope you enjoy.

Have a great Sunday! Oh, wait...technically it's Monday now.

Have a great Monday!! :O)

Love you,

Disney

Ruffled Table Runner How-To for Styled. Magazine

2012-01-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to let you know that issue three of Styled. magazine is out, and it has a little table runner project in it by yours truly. Such a beautiful publication, you have to see it!

Click here to see my project in the magazine, or here to see it in blog post format.

Have a warm and toasty Monday!

Love,

Disney

Your Allergy-Free Recipes

2012-01-15T08:16:00.000-08:00

Stinking doctors.

Just kidding, I'm so grateful for my Dr.

But she did some blood work on me last October and told me that I couldn't eat dairy, gluten, soy or eggs. I was like "eh??" (I guess she doesn't know that Starbucks only offers dairy or soy milk; what am I supposed to order in my iced coffee???)

So I've been off those foods (except a few accidental encounters at a potluck or two) and feeling so. so. good. (Hello, energy!!) I also lost ten pounds, which didn't hurt me at all. But unfortunately, not being a very experienced or adventurous cook, my diet consists mostly of corn chips, kidney beans, and candy corn. Aaaand it's getting pretty old.

So!

I wanted to see if any of you allergy-free types have any super-simple recipes that you use? I've found one or two websites with some recipes, but a lot of them require the weirdest ingredients and like, a year to make: "Just dehydrate these beans for four hours, grow some fennel in your garden real quick, add xanthan gum and a flux capacitor and you've got a simple, easy meal that tastes like cardboard!"
Yeah. Or I could pop open a bag of corn chips and dip them in hummus. Dinner.

You see my problem? So if you have any great recipes that you've actually tried, please share!

Thank you in advance!

Love,

Disney

Cowl Scarf

2012-01-09T08:41:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the sweater headwrap we made earlier this week? It can also be made as a matching cowl scarf!

I made one a few days ago and just had time to finish it before I went out shooting (shutters, not triggers) at a local wildlife refuge with my dad.

I love this place.

And I love my Dad. :o)

Paige is rather attached to him as well! :o)

We love you, Papa! Thanks for a really fun day.

So! To make the cowl scarf, use the exact same technique as the headwrap, but with a 15"x30" rectangle instead.

You can cut the rectangle out the remaining middle portion of your sweater, like this:

Have a wonderful day!

Love you all,

Disney

One to Watch: Hello Hydrangea

2012-01-07T22:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I fall in love with a blog. At first sight.

Today I fell in love with one called Hello Hydrangea. It's authored by this lovely lady, Lindsey:

(Isn't she too cute for this world? Make her go away!)

She's so fun to read and has really got an eye for beautiful photos and super cute DIY. Check it out!

Her blog is pretty new, so please go show her some love! I think it's going to be the beginning of something fantastic.

HEAD ON OVER!

And thanks for the compliments on the last post, guys! I love your comments so much. I'm pretty sure that I could live without food and water as long as I had Jesus and all your sweet remarks.

Love!

Disney

Recycled Sweater Headwrap Tutorial!

2012-01-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Hello there, friends!

How's your new year going? Ours is going pretty great! I jokingly told my husband that this year he's going to have to start being my life coach. I need someone to show me how to be organized! So he promptly sat down and made me a list of all the imperative tasks for each day and when would be the best time to do them. According to the list, right now I should be...(looks at list)...homeschooling Paige. :o) Look, Paige! Today's lesson is on how to write a blog post! (Hehe.)

So how about a little tutorial today? I made this headwrap last night and I wanted to share it with you. I don't want to toot my own horn, but I love this little thing!

Made from a hand-me-down sweater that didn't fit, it only has 3 steps, and hardly a stitch sewn!

Want to try one? (Yes, Disney, we do!)

Great!

Cut a long rectangle from an old sweater. Your desired size + 1/2" seam allowance. Mine was 5"x21".

Hem the sides. You can try this on the sewing machine (with a zigzag stitch), but sewing a knitted sweater can be pretty difficult to get good results with, so I used this fabric glue I had on hand. If you choose to glue it, try to get a washable fabric glue.

pin the ends, right sides together and sew with a zigzag stitch.

Take care not to let the ends shift so they match up nicely. And you're done!

Wear it plain or add an embellishment! I had this adorable flower that my mom crocheted for Paige's fourth birthday that I stitched on.

Wear and enjoy your toasty ears!

I hope you find a few minutes to make one! It's so snuggly to wear. And somehow I like it a little better than a hat. By the way, this could easily be a headband if you changed the width to 3" or so!

Have a wonderful day, whatever you're doing!

Love you,

Disney

Recycling Christmas Cards

2011-12-30T22:35:00.000-08:00

I admit that I'm not usually sentimental when it comes to greeting cards. In the past, I haven't been the type to hang on to them for more than a year. (OK, three days.) But lately I've felt more sentimental. I actually didn't want to throw away my cards this year! So I thought about it for a while, got some inspiration by some ideas I saw online, and Paige and I sat down this afternoon and recycled our Christmas cards. It was really fun! And it felt great to be able to say I didn't throw them away.

We didn't get too fancy today, 'cause, you know, she's four. But we did make some gift tags for next year's presents and some little ornaments for Paige's pink Christmas tree. Wanna see the before and afters? Of course you do!

Isn't that fun? And since we don't take our trees down until New Year's, Paige was even able to hang her ornaments! And then she hung the gift tags, too. :o)

And since our card recycling was-let's face it-a little on the pathetic side, here are some pretty cool ideas that you can use for your own card recycling!

(All images are linked to source.)

Martha Stewart has some really cool ideas, here.

My favorites are these ornaments:

This circle garland!

(I had this idea too! But was too lazy to cut that many circles, haha.)

And these monograms.

Better Homes and Gardens has some great ideas, too!

Here's a cute Christmas card advent from Crafty Nest:

A stunning (but surely time-consuming!) wreath from Good Housekeeping.

A cute little card wreath:

But I think the coolest idea is this:

Cards on rings! To save for every year. :o) Especially good for the photo cards, which you definitely don't want to throw away! Here's a cute version from Close 2 My Heart:

And of course you can always paste the front of your old card to new cardstock. Or at least donate them to St. Jude's, who take all types of used greeting cards!

Phew!!

Well? Are you guys excited that the holidays are over? I have to confess that I'm still in the "slightly-depressed-that-Christmas-is-actually-over" stage. Paige asked me today, "how many days until next Christmas?" and all I could do was stick out my bottom lip.

I LOVE Christmas. :O)

I hope you all enjoyed some time off with family and a yummy cookies or two! ;o)

Have a lovely day!

-Disney

Happy, Happy!!

2011-12-25T00:04:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to say..........

Happy birthday to one of the world's most influential women. :O)

I love you so much.

And to the rest of you lovelies:

Merry Christmas!! I love you, too. Hope today is just the best.

Love,

Disney

A Perfect Pendant Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-22T19:52:00.000-08:00

The winner (chosen by Random.org's random number counter) of the "A Perfect Pendant" giveaway is....

Caroline of Artfully Caroline!

Congratulations, Caroline!

Thanks everyone for entering and see you soon!

Love,

Disney

P.S. Thanks for all your votes! I think I'm going to choose this one for myself:

"A Perfect Pendant" Giveaway!

2011-12-15T23:52:00.000-08:00

My craft of preference seems to go in cycles, and my latest thing has been jewelry. Especially necklaces. I've been on quite a necklace kick lately! Maybe you'd like a little necklace kick, too?

Ok, not all of us are going to want to flamboyantly skip into jewelry making. How about just winning a pretty necklace instead? Sound good? Good!

Let me introduce you to an adorable little shop called A Perfect Pendant. Isn't it sweet? Perfectly elegant little lovelies for your stocking! Beautiful glass pendants with a vintage, feminine feel on your choice of a matching antique bronze 24" chain or satin ribbon.

And you can also send a photo in for a custom-made pendant! So neat!

Don't you love them?

The lovely shop owner, Allison, is opting to let the winner choose her necklace, which makes it even more fun! So check out her shop if you want to do a little window shopping!

To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment on this post with an email address for me to contact you at. (Entries are open to all counties.)

The winner will be announced Thursday, December 22nd.

Good luck!!

Love,

Disney

P.S. Allison was kind enough to let me choose a necklace as well, yay! But I can't decide between these two...what do you think? Which do you guys like better??

A Little Glitz

2011-12-08T11:21:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a few of the things that I've been working on this Christmas.

I haven't been sewing much lately, but I've tinkered around in jewelry again, which I haven't done in quite some time. It was really fun to pick it up again!

This first necklace is for a very special friend and Church family member over in Coeur D'Alene, ID. I've been hoarding all my "special" peachy-pink sparkly beads to make myself something pretty, but since she and I are in the same color season, I thought of her as I was making it, and I couldn't resist sending it to her. I just think the world of her.

The next three are for another special friend. (You met her in this post.) She is one of those rare, special friends who keeps in contact, even when I don't. She always sends sweet gifts for Paige and me, and we really wanted to send her something back this year. I hope she likes them! (And that she's not reading this...haha)

Jewelry making is so fun. It can be an expensive hobby to start, though. Special thanks to my dear sister, who is my bead dealer. ("Dealer" sounds bad..."Sponsor"?)

If you'd like a little more jewelry inspiration, you can see some other things I've made here, here, here and here !

Are you guys making handmade gifts this year?

An Update

2011-12-06T23:13:00.000-08:00

Hi!

Since I've been away for a bit, I thought maybe I would update you guys a little on what we've been up to the last month or so.

First of all, I'm excited to say that I was in two more magazines! Yay! The first is a lovely Australian magazine called "Bella"; it's geared toward adolescent girls and is very positive and uplifting. Not to mention just beautiful to look at! I absolutely loved it, I wish we had more publications like it here in the States. I created a hanging word decoration(got to think of a better name for that!) tutorial for them. Thanks, Bella magazine!

I was also in another issue of Altered Couture. I love them for having me back so many times, what an honor. I just love the magazine, and the editor, she's amazingly kind. They featured this tee refashion I did last year.

In real life events, we've had a great autumn season! Paige and I went to a huge pumpkin patch with some friends where she picked a baby pumpkin, pet some furry friends, and climbed the biggest mountain of hay bails I've ever seen. Which, incidentally, gave Mommy a few small heart attacks, but Paige had fun.

We got to visit family a little, and Paige enjoyed leaf-jumping and orchard picking with her cute little cousin, Jack.

We also went to a costume party with friends at Church! Paige went as a Park Ranger...

Apparently, I went as "Frumpy Sweater Woman".

We did a little wedding coordinating. Fun! The wedding was planned in a week and a half. I was the coordinator, photographer, invitation-maker, decorations sponsor and anything else you can think of. Our budget was...nothing, so, I'm embarrassed to say, the entire wedding came out of my craft room. How is it possible that I've hoarded enough treasures to create an entire wedding out of? Yikes.

Paige was the flower (leaf) girl. She loved it. She took it very seriously, placing each leaf gently on the floor, all in a row. :o)

There has been Christmas cookie decorating:

And Christmas tree decorating!

And even a little of this:

And of course, homeschooling, housekeeping, gift-making, Church family things, and I don't really remember what else. Sometimes I feel like my life is a little too busy, and sometimes I feel like a lazy bum who doesn't use her time as wisely as she should. Maybe when I'm in my thirties I'll be magically organized. ...40's?

Hm.

P.S. By the way, I really do have a husband. I know he's never in the pictures, but he's there in real life. He's just not a big "post photos of me on your blog" type of guy. :O)

Have a wonderful day, now!

Love,

Disney

hi

2011-12-05T13:25:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry I haven't been around. I didn't know I was going to take a little sabbatical or I would have warned you. :O) I've been quite busy, but I don't really think that's why I haven't posted. I don't know. I'm just not myself lately.

I hope you're all enjoying your holiday season! I'll try to be back as soon as I can. :o)

Love you,
Disney

Kite Bow Organizer Tutorial

2011-10-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

So here's what I was talking about in my last post: it's a bow organizer! Made out of a metal hanger!

I wasn't sure if it would make sense to other people...but my husband liked it. :o) Then again, I could cut a whole in a paper bag and he would act impressed. :o)

I've been obsessed with kites for the last year. (Have I mentioned that?) And I knew a kite would make a cute bow organizer, because, you know, the bows on the kite string...it's like a real kite! Get it? I just hadn't thought about how I was going to do it...

And the other day as I was about to get rid of some metal hangers (but still holding on to them, knowing there was surely something I could make out of them) I realized that if you bend it a little, it's almost a kite shape! So the idea was finally realized. Yay. :O) And I really like how it turned out! It feels really vintage, which I love.

You want to try making one? All you need is a hanger, a spool of ribbon and a scrap of fabric!

First, bend your hanger like this, straightening out the hook:

Then cut your fabric about half an inch larger than your "kite" frame and glue it around the back, stretching it taught.

Cut a couple of strips of ribbon to decorate the front of your kite and attach them by gluing all four ends around the back.

Attach a kite tail by looping a long piece of ribbon through what was the top of the hanger (secure with hot glue) and wrapping an extra piece around a few inches at the top.

All done! Clip some hair bows on and enjoy!

Again, I just love the vintage look of it.

I've always loved vintage children's toys, and I've been noticing that I keep adding more of them to Paige's room. I must be on a kick. But my favorite thing in her room is this musical carousel that my grandma recently passed down to us. It was my great-grandmother's! And it still works, which is a testimony to how well-made toys used to be. (Can you imagine one of our kids' toys lasting that long??)

The only bad thing about this project?

If your daughter has as many hair clips as my girly-girl...you might need to make two. :o)

Hope you have fun with it! Have a great Monday, everyone. :o)

Love,
Disney

2011-10-20T16:42:00.000-07:00

I bet you didn't know that Germany had a whole magazine dedicated to Hello Kitty. (Unless you're from Germany...then you might have known.)

And I bet you also didn't know that I was in it!

Cool, huh?

They asked me to do a little interview in it a while back, and I just got my copy in the mail. Hot dog!

It's so neat to be in a magazine from another country! I felt kinda special. :o)

Paige however, was not as much impressed with my interview as the free stickers that came with "her magazine".

I'm not sure if etiquette allows for me to share my interview questions, but maybe I'll share them later on down the road after the magazine isn't on newsstands anymore. :O)

So, that's my little news for the day! Pretty cool!

I have a few projects that I've been meaning to share, but to tell you the truth, I've been putting it off because I'm afraid that you guys will think they're stupid. Haha. Do you ever worry about that? I'm sure we all do. Someone once left a comment saying that I shouldn't confess my insecurities in my posts because I don't come off sounding confident. They're probably right; Martha Stewart probably didn't get where she was by feeling insecure. But I don't want that kind of life, I don't like to pretend like that. Anyway, I'm rambling now. Don't worry, I'll get over it and get my ideas posted. Besides, you guys are always so nice about everything, even if you think my ideas are stupid you never say so! That's just another reason why I love you. :O)

Have a fantastic day now, everyone! Auf wiedersehen!

Love,

Disney

String Art Canvas Tutorial!

2011-10-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Isn't this fun?

String art (that's what I'm calling it) is something I've been meaning to try out for a while now. I'm not sure if it's something I saw somewhere once, or if my mind made it up, but I like it!

It's very simple. But, striking, too!

And so easy. YAY!

All you need is canvas(or old frames and fabric), string and fabric glue.

You can definitely do this on a store bought canvas, but if you're too cheap to buy those (like me) then make your own "canvases" with old frames and fabric! Here's how:

Find a frame(light in color, so it doesn't show through your fabric) and discard(read: save for something, somewhere, someday) the glass and backing. Then cut a rectangle of medium-heavyweight fabric just large enough to fit around the back.

Start gluing to the back of the frame, pulling the fabric nice and taught. The back doesn't have to look nice, but do take care to make a tidy fold on the corners.

Ta-da! A canvas frame. Sorta.

Then you'll want to lightly draw a design, tracing a stencil or printed image if desired.

Put a small amount of glue along your traced lines, and gently pat string onto the glue. That's it!

Let it dry, and hang on two nails. Easy, right?

I put mine in my bathroom. Remember this post when I said I wanted to cover my bathroom in sailboat pictures? It's coming along nicely! Thanks to every thrift store I've been to in the last several months.

I just love my two newest additions!

Placed glamorously next to the toilet paper.

The bathroom is still a work in progress(you can see a couple of frames are actually still empty), but it already makes me so happy to be in it! I just love it! Don't you love it when you decorate a room and it just feels like home? Something you'll be happy with for a long time? Me too.

I love a neutral, monochromatic look, but this type of picture would be fun in different colors, too! I might do some brighter colors with white string kites in Paige's room.
I hope you have fun making some! Take care!

Love,
Disney

Amy Cornwell Giveaway Winner!

2011-10-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is the winner of our $50 Amy Cornwell Giveaway!

I'm not sure what her real name is, but congratulations:

"Splendid Things"!

I didn't choose her (I choose the winner by random.org's random number generator) but it makes me happy to see her win, because she's definitely a familiar face in my comment box! Thanks for reading, Splendid, and all your sweet comments! I really appreciate them. :O)

I'll be sending your email to the shop owners!

Thanks, everyone, have a great weekend!

love,

Disney

P.S. Pinterest!

2011-10-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, you can find me on Pinterest!
It's an online pin board of everything that insprires you, anything at all! Craft projects, cute outfits, haircuts, Christmas lists, whatever!

Source: jcrew.com via Disney on Pinterest

These are just a few of my favorite pins :o)

Source: etsy.com via Disney on Pinterest

Source: peppermintplum.blogspot.com via Disney on Pinterest

Source: None via Disney on Pinterest

You can either browse other people's pins, or pin anything from almost any website. I've been pinning there for months, but for some reason I haven't shared it here! So if any of you want to find me there, I would love that! And If you haven't tried Pinterest, you might want to. :O) It's terribly addicting! (And no, they aren't paying me to say that.) You have to request an invite, but it usually doesn't take more than a day to get one and then it's free to sign up!

See you there!

Have a great day, guys!
Love,
Disney

Giveaway with Amy Cornwell Designs!

2011-10-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

*GIVEAWAY CLOSED*

Thanks for entering!

A while back I got an email from a very sweet woman, Amy, who has a beautiful online shop with personalized jewelry. She wanted to know if I would be interested in hosting a giveaway, and if I would like to choose something from her shop for myself as well. Yay!! Shopping for free, I love it!

The winner of the giveaway will win a $50 gift certificate to Amy's shop, Amy Cornwell Designs, which is full of gorgeous little things! It literally took me an hour to choose just one thing. Right now she has a few special items for sale that she will donate proceeds from to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. (I love pink pearls!)

She makes all kinds of beautiful silver (and gold!) pendants and bracelets hand stamped with your special names or messages.

I love her beautiful ring selection:

And she hasn't forgotten the guys!

There is even a selection of fun pins and hairbands!

Definitely enough to keep the giveaway winner busy shopping for a while!

So what did I choose for my little gift?

Of course I wanted to pick something (well, everything) for myself, but then I thought that Paige might enjoy having a special necklace for herself, so I chose this:

A simple, personalized heart with pearl. I love it so much! Simple, elegant, something she'll hold on to. She loves it too-she's been bringing it out to show everyone who comes over to our house. She's even asked for a jewelry box for Christmas to put her "special necklace" in. :O) Thanks, Amy!!

Are you ready to win??

To enter to win the $50 certificate, just leave a comment with your email on this post.

(Just one per person, please.)

Head over to her shop here to shop more!

The winner will be announced next Saturday, Oct. 15th.

Best of luck!!

See you soon!

Love,

Disney

Simple Projects Week: Roundup!

2011-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

There are SO many ideas out there that I love and would love to try. It would take pages and pages to share them all. But not all projects are simple, and as I was searching through my favorite websites, I soon discovered that projects that are really quick and simple are not as readily available as I thought! Still, here are a few that I found and loved. I hope they provide some inspiration! (Links to the tutorials are under the photos.)

I love these simple home decor ideas. Especially that lace coffee table. Need!

vases, coasters, picture board, sweater pillow, lace table

And how cute are these funky autumn pumpkins and leaves?

leaf candle holders, fabric pumpkins, leaf garland, sweater pumpkin

A few tee refashions for the beginner sewer:

ruffles, lace, paper

I'd love to do crayon art just in shades of green or pink. And eraser stamps sound so fun.

face plates, crayon art, eraser stamp

A mouse pad cover is a serious "to do" for me, you should see mine. Yuck! It's so easy to do! And I love cards with stitching.

simple totes, mouse pad, tutu, note cards

And of course, there are always more of my own ideas! Here are a few fairly simple projects I've done in the past:

Headbands, polka-dot tee, simple skirt, petal tee

paper doll magnets, doodle chalkboard, paper pinwheels

Have fun with your projects! And please feel free to share if you have quick, simple tutorials of your own! :o)
Have a lovely Sunday.
Love,
Disney

Simple Projects Week: Autumn Tree!

2011-10-01T07:15:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't you know it, last project that I share this week didn't turn out as I'd planned. :o(

I had this great golden tree in mind-it was so gorgeous in my head! But time ran out (ok, I procrastinated) and so did my gold spray paint. Oh well! It still turned out kinda pretty, and we have imaginations... :o)

So let's imagine that this tree has about twice as many gold leaves and gold branches as well. Isn't that lovely?

If you can imagine it and you'd like to make your own, here's how!

First cut one or two branches off a tree(dead or alive), trim them up a little if needed and spray paint them gold(or silver, white, black...hot pink?). One can should be enough. (Mine was only half full.)

Grab a package of silk leaves from the dollar store and spray paint them all. Because the leaves are fabric they'll dry in less than a minute, so this won't take long!

Attach them with a glue gun, and you're done!

You can stick them in a vase with moss or rocks, etc. in the bottom.

I loved doing this! It was so quick and fun that working on it literally made me giddy. I love projects like that.

If you're not a "huge tree in the middle of my table" person, a row of little trees in vases would be cute, too! You could also totally leave the leaves their au naturel, multi-colored selves for a more traditionally autumn look.

That wraps up my simple projects for this week! Tomorrow I'll be sharing a roundup of my favorite simple projects from other places!

I'll see you then. :o) Have a great Saturday!

Love,

Disney

Simple Projects Week: Rosette Shirt!

2011-09-30T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hello! Happy Friday, everyone! Today for Simple Project Week I'm sharing this simple circle rosette shirt alteration. (Phew! What a name!)

I was hesitant to share this for Simple Project Week because it is not as quick as some of the other projects, but I loved it so much that I just had to. And technique-wise it is extremely simple-a beginner should have no problem with it! (I hope!)

All you need is a plain tee and some coordinating knit scraps! (Nylon chiffon is optional)

Cut a bunch of circles in three different sizes and various colors. Use old t-shirt scraps if you have them!

(My shirt has; lt. pink: 10 lrg, 12 med, 10 sm, white: 6 lrg, 7 med, 8 sm, chiffon: 6lrg, 3 med, 4 sm)

Pin the circles to your shirt, smallest on top:

Sew them to your shirt in an X shape.

That's it!

How easy is that?? I love it with this high waisted skirt I picked up at a thrift store recently:

But more often than not, I'll probably be wearing it like this:

To make it a truly simple and (quick) project, try starting with just a row around the neckline! I didn't think to show a picture of this before I sewed my rosettes on, so please excuse the crude Photoshopped example...you get the idea, right? :o)

Tip: You may want to place them even more close together than I did. When wearing your shirt the design stretches a bit; I thought I'd accommodated for that, but I wish I would have made them a teeny bit closer.

I hope you try it! It's a fun one to do, and I really love mine. :O) Or at least I did until I had to edit a million photos of myself in it and then wonder what the rest of the world will think of it...hmm. :o)

Have a great Friday! Our week of simple projects is almost done! I hope you've enjoyed it-I know I have.

Love,
Disney

Simple Projects Week: Photo Bookmark!

2011-09-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

This week consists mostly of girly simplicities, but I thought I should probably throw something in for the men in our lives as well. My husband is an avid book reader, so Paige and I thought it would be nice to give him something rather than a pen to mark his place! She helped me make this little faux leather bookmark, and he loved it.

Aside from marking your guy's place, it also serves as a little reminder of how much you love him (and how cute your face is)!

All you need is a scrap of leather or pleather and plastic. I usually get my leather/vinyl materials from old handbags, torn up jackets, cosmetic bags(like this one), etc., but you can also buy it by the yard at some places or try asking upholstery shops for their throw away scraps. For plastic, hunt through your recycle bin for the bag that your curtains/toys/etc. came in!

For the bookmark, cut an 8"x2.5" rectangle and put a small slit in the middle of the top. Then make two window frames, one 3.5" tall and one 2" tall each out of leather and plastic. Cut rectangles out of the middle of the leather rectangles to leave .5" wide window frames.

Lay down the plastic first and then the leather frames on top and sew through all three layers, leaving the tops of the frames open.

Tie ribbon, string or more leather scraps to the top and you're done!

Add photos and sweet notes!

Then leave it in his current book and let him be surprised!

If you don't sew, just use a strong hold glue to put it together. You could also pretty easily alter this idea to make a keychain if your guy isn't exactly a book nerd. :O)

I hope he likes it!

Have a great day!

Love,

Disney

Simple Projects Week: Layered Skirt!

2011-09-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

A week of simple projects wouldn't be complete with a simple skirt. This is probably the simplest one I've ever made, thanks to the jersey knit that doesn't need hemming. (Yay!)

I've made one in little punkin size, but the instructions will work for any size!

It's a great skirt for lounging around in the seasonally transitional days. :o)

Want to make one? Yes, you do. Trust me. ;o) And you can!!

To begin, cut two rectangles (about 1.5-2 x hip measurement) in slightly different lengths and sew the sides together to make 2 tubes.

Put the shorter tube over the longer one and pin the tops flush.

Then pin the skirt layers evenly to a piece of 2" elastic waistband(just sew the two ends together with right sides facing).

Sew to the waistband(right sides facing), stretching the elastic to match the length of the fabric as you sew.

All done!

My beautiful pout-a-potamus:

Oh, how I love that face!

Tip: If you're intimidated by the elastic stretching part, you can easily attach the skirt by sewing a gathering stitch along the top(through both layers); then pull one thread to gather until the skirt is the same size as the waistband and then sew on.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial! For another simple skirt, check out my "20 minute skirt" tutorial, here!

Happy Wednesday! I'm feeling even more chipper than usual right now. I just love you guys, did you know that? I love talking to you like we're old friends. Thanks for all your comments!

See you tomorrow!

Love,

Disney

Simple Projects Week: Necklaces!

2011-09-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick idea today! A very quick idea. :O)

Long necklaces have experienced some extreme popularity over the last few years, so we probably all have at least one or two in our jewelry box! For some reason I never wear them, I guess I prefer a shorter length. So I thought of a quick way to alter them!

Simply cut two lengths of coordinating ribbon, several inches long...

And tie one ribbon to each end of the necklace!

And there you are: a new necklace!

You can always add embellishments if it makes you happy. :o) (And that always makes me happy!)

Two small lengths of ribbon and you've got a new necklace! Isn't that fun? I like how it's doubled up, too. I hope you have fun with them!

Have another wonderful day. It's raining here and I. Am. Happy!! I need a Caramel Apple Spice.

Love,

Disney

Simple Projects Week: Bows!

2011-09-26T07:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "Simple Projects" week on Ruffles and Stuff!

Today's project is simple bow hair clips!

A long time ago I saw simple hair bows like these for sale and I thought: "how easy would that be??". And I was so right, they were ridiculously easy.

Like, easy enough to make one in every color. For every outfit!

There are two different styles, both made with only two tiny scraps of felt. Nice!

For a more traditional style bow:

1. Cut a 1" x 7" strip and a tiny scrap to go around the middle (aprox. 1.5" x .5")

2. Cut a "v" out of each end and slit one slit about .5" from the end.

3. Slide opposite end through slit.

4.-5. flatten top and wrap the little piece around the middle.

6. Glue.

Then glue to a bobby pin, barrette or ribbon covered clip:

Enjoy!

The next style (my favorite) is even easier!

1. Cut out a rectangle and round off the corners.

2.-3. Pinch middle and wrap scrap piece around.

4. Glue to a clip.

Bam. Done. :o)

Wasn't that easy?

Paige even helped make a few of these, so if a four year old can do it, so can you!

I didn't have time to make more, but I think these would be positively wonderful in leather or suede as well. Can you just see that? Cute! In fact, any fairly sturdy non-fraying material would work just fine I should think. And don't limit your bows to hair clips! They make adorable accents for all sorts of things.

Have a simply lovely day!

Love you,

Disney

Edited: I couldn't resist-I tried a leather version using a heinous old jacket my mom gave me for scrap fabric:

Aren't they cute??

A Week Of Simple Projects!

2011-09-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about all the people who tell me that they always start projects and never finish them. While I usually do pretty well finishing what I start, I don't like to start it if I don't think I can finish it all at once! And with daily schedules (and a four year old) it's hard to come by enough alone time to finish a long project. So I end up not doing anything! The answer to both I think (besides selling our children to the gypsies) is projects that are simple and don't take up much time!

Soo...

I wanted to tell you guys that next week here will be "Simple Projects" week! A nod to the beginner crafters, young crafters, crafters with short attention spans...

I like to think that most of the projects on my blog are pretty simple, but this week the ideas will be super simple and super quick! Less than 5 steps, that kind of thing. It should be fun!

I'll start the tutorials on Monday, so be sure to check back daily next week!

Have a lovely, lovely weekend! It's 69 degrees today and a few of the leaves on our backyard tree have started to fall so I'm pretty much in heaven. Bring on the pumpkin candles! :O)

Love,

Disney

A New Toy!

2011-09-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Is it OK if I just stop apologizing for not posting frequently enough? It's starting to feel a little repetitive.

(Maybe one more...I'm so sorry!)

I've got lots of crafts coming up (more on that tomorrow), but first I wanted to gush a little. Last week my dad called and asked if I wanted to trade him my Cannon Rebel xsi for his T2i...uh, YES!!!!! I am so excited!! Not only is it a few steps up the camera ladder, but it has hd video. *angels singing* And he even threw in the battery grip! So here she is, my new camera, in all her glory:

I love you Dad. :O)

Notice the lovely camera strap? It's my old purse strap that I don't use. I saved it because I love the color and I knew I'd do something with it someday. I was right! Strangely, it's more comfortable than the Cannon strap that came with the camera. Hmm.

Right after my dad gave me the camera, my brother and sister-in-law gave me a 50mm macro lens. (Thank you, guys!!) I've been having fun with it this morning shooting random things around my kitchen...

Photography is so fun. Even if you're not amazing at it.

I'll talk to you tomorrow! Have a great day. :O)

Love,

Disney

Some Ramblings...

2011-09-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

I write a small, bi-weekly column for our local Tidbits newspaper, and this week I decided to write about the topic of "greatness" and how elusive the feeling of being successful is. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time.

When I first started my blog, I kept praying that it would turn into something big, something great. I wasn't sure what I wanted it to be, just successful. And then after a few months I had 200 followers! I couldn't believe it. In my mind, I had hit the big time. When I posted about how excited I was, Heather from Dollar Store Crafts said "It won't be long until you have 2,000!". Of course I knew she was just being polite...who could ever have 2,000 followers??

At that time I felt that if I had 2,000 followers that I would be on top of the world. I would feel so important. How could anyone not, after all? But 8,000 followers later, I feel appreciative, but not successful. When I started blogging I would have thought that being in a magazine would feel so incredible, like I was famous! It does feel wonderful, but I certainly don't feel famous. Or any more important or great.

No matter what I do, someone will have done it before. No matter how much traffic my blog gets, someone else will have more. So I started wondering if I would ever really get to that feeling of successfulness. Will I ever feel like I've done something "great"? Will I if I write a book? If I'm on TV? What's it going to take?

None of those things.

I've discovered that blogging can't make me feel important. Nor being "famous" or "successful". Those are all good things, but they don't fulfill a person. They don't make us important. I think what makes us important is being a truly loving person. A goal more lofty (and sometimes more difficult to achieve) than any other I can think of. Practicing humility and serving others, doing small, unimportant things for big and important reasons. That's what makes me feel successful. That's what makes me feel like I've done my best, like I'm really becoming something "great".

....so....

I just wanted to put that out there, I guess.
Thanks for putting up with my volcano of words. :o)

Have a "great" weekend! :o)
love,
Disney

Dear Lillie Giveaway Winner!!

2011-09-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had a chance to enter our sweet little giveaway with Dear Lillie!

Dear Lillie gave away this adorable handmade purple hat and flower clip. I love it. So much so, that when Jenni offered me something from her shop as a thank you gift, I picked the very same hat!

Here is Paige in it:

So cute and snuggly!

And I just love that the clip comes off so you can wear it when the evil september weather is still in the nineties...

Sooo....I guess you're wondering who gets it??

I used random.org's number generator to choose...

Jessica!

Congrats, Jessica! I'll be in contact soon!

Thanks for entering everybody, have a great day!

love,

Disney

A Muscle Tee and Making a Man Cave

2011-09-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Remember that Chuck Norris t-shirt pillow that I made for my husband's "man cave" recently?

Chuck's got some competition.

My husband had this great idea that we would collect manly-man t-shirts so he could have a whole collection of pillows on his sofa. I'm totally into that! What a cool idea. So we scored this tee with Arnold as Conan the Barbarian. Perfect.

(But Norris could totally take him.)

Right now we're looking for t-shirts with Bruce Lee and Mr. T. Then maybe we'll throw a Mr. Rogers in the middle just for fun. :o)

"Muscle tees" (haha) aside, it has been so hard to come up with a decorative theme for My husband's room. He's asked for my help, I'm not being that psycho wife who has to have decorative control over every area of the house, but neither of us can quite pin down what we want to do. And when you throw in the fact that we're not really spending money on the re-do, it's quite a brain stumper.

The man room is downstairs in our finished basement. It has a nice "almond cake" light-tannish color on the walls and...blue industrial carpeting. Our furniture is totally hodge-podge with one jewel of a wood framed sofa that my father made in the 70's. I love vintage anyway, and I think my husband is liking it too, so maybe play off the sofa with a mix of mid-century and 70's with some organic elements...? He also likes really formal stuff too sometimes. Hmm.

I tried to go online and find some inspiring photos (love doing that!) and this is what I think it needs:

A nice sofa. Which we kid of already have. Good.

Man chairs.

Some unique lighting.

Walmart lamps just don't cut the mustard in this kind of a room, you know?

Maybe a pop of orange?

Pillows for the guest bed. It's so hard to find a stylish throw pillow for a guy!

And some art that represents my husband's personality. Like how he's always reading a book.

How he is loving in the truest sense.

He loves bridges.

And Starry Night.

Then we need to throw in some personal elements.

A few things I loved:

This leather journal. For some reason I always associate leather books with manliness.

Cologne. Because smelling badly, while very manly, is never a good thing.

I'm not sure who this guys is, but he's in a Seattle Super Sonics jersey. That could be good or bad in my husband's man cave. (He's still mourning.)

A wood iPhone dock. We don't have iPhones, but...look how pretty it is!

And, last but not least, something totally random. I mean, who has a book with this title?? I guess if you live in Canada it's not so random...

So what would you even call that kind of style? "Totally random"? I guess it's just "whatever you love" style. My whole house is turning into that. I love it! :o) It's nice being surrounded by things that make you smile rather than things you think other people will approve of. After all, style is in the eye of the beholder, right?

Have a great day, wherever you are. I hope things are going well for you.

Love,

Disney

P.S. And don't forget to enter our giveaway with Dear Lillie!

Dear Lillie Giveaway!

2011-09-05T23:28:00.000-07:00

We have a giveaway today! Hooray!!

Have you ever been to Dear Lillie? Such a gorgeous shop, with a gorgeous blog attached, run by a gorgeous woman with gorgeous daughters and a stunningly gorgeous home. There's a whole lotta gorgeous going on over there!

I discovered the blog first, which is just visually stunning. Jenni has great photography skills, and there is just something so addicting about her pictures. You'll find yourself clicking "older posts" over and over. :o) I secretly think of her blog as how my life would be if I was all kinds of fabulous. Here are a few photos that inspire me:

Aren't those breath taking?

The shop, Dear Lillie is family run and has been open for business since 2009. They have experienced great success (undoubtedly due to the beauty and quality of their items) and have recently transitioned from Etsy to their own independent shop.

Take a quick trip over to the shop to find lovely items such as Jane Austen inspired totes, pillows and graphic art:

Cotton and terrycloth Baby Cloths:

Adorable children's apparel:

Tutus!

And beautiful rosette accented knit caps in all sorts of colors!

Today they're giving away one of their gorgeous "Briar" hats in purple!

This is probably my favorite thing in the shop to tell you the truth. I don't know what it is about it, but I love it. And the perfect shade for autumn! I love that it comes with a detachable flower clip to wear on your hat or in your hair.

To enter to win it, simply leave a comment on this post. One comment per person, please, and don't forget to include an email address for me to contact you with. :O)

Winner will be announced on Tuesday, Sept. 13th.

Good luck!!

To visit the shop and do some more drooling, click here.

love you!

Disney

NEET Magazine Feature

2011-09-02T15:35:00.000-07:00

Cool! My message board was featured in the September issue of the online magazine N.E.E.T.!

I am so flattered. If you like indie magazines, definitely give it a check-out. There are some really cute things in there. But! Warning: I did notice that there are also a couple of scandalous lady photos in the magazine. I'm not a big "half-naked-in-front-of-the-world" person, so I just wanted to put that out there...you know. :O)

You can see the original post/tutorial for the kitchen message board here!

Hope you're feeling happy today! :o)

love,

-Disney

10 Ways to Repurpose Clip-On Earrings!

2011-08-29T23:32:00.001-07:00

How much do I LOVE vintage earrings?

(a lot.)

I've posted a couple of projects before which involved clip-on earrings and I have so many more pairs in my jewelry box that thought it would be fun to see how many projects I could come up with for them! I only photographed ten of them, but the possibilities are just endless with these little gems.

Grab your pliers(for twisting the backs off) and your super-glue and let's get started!

#1 Add one to a simple necklace to totally change the look of it! I have it on a double strand "pearl" necklace, but it would be cute as a pendant dangling from a simple gold chain, too.

#2 Glue one to the top of a ribbon-wrapped pen! When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with flower pens. (It's what princesses use, you know.) I love the idea of making a little bit more grown-up version. It takes all of 2 minutes with a hot glue gun, and a bouquet of these would be nice by the kitchen phone!

#3 Love these baubly bobby pins! Glue a small circle of felt to the back of the earring, then glue it to another felt circle with the bobby sandwiched in between.

#4 Add kitsch to a dresser by glueing an array of lonely unmatched earrings to the knobs.

#5 Elegance meets functionality on a kitchen message board! (Tutorial here) Earring clips become note holders and others are glued to the top of push pins to keep recipes (or dream men) handy.

#6 Earrings are gorgeous decorations on a vase or candleholder!

#7 For people (like me) who wear their favorite shoes almost every day, a set of earrings clipped onto the front or back can add some fun variation!

#8 I loved this one. I have so many dollar store bangles that I never wear! Glued together with a bit of sparkle on top they are much more interesting and wearable.

#9 A great use for frames with the glass missing. A little hot glue and a few snips of ribbon "stems" and you have a quirky little work of art!

#10 Last but not least: probably the best reason to collect vintage clip-ons...to wear them!!

Don't be afraid of throwing a little vintage in your look once in a while! You might be surprised how much you like it! :o)

So there are a few ideas! I bet you guys can think of tons more. Earrings as fridge magnets? On the face of a clock? I've also seen people make gorgeous wedding bouquets from vintage pins and earrings. Vintage earrings are getting pretty popular, so if you want to get your hands on them check your local thrift and antique shops, they usually have some!

Happy crafting!

Love, (and God bless you!)

Disney

Lollipop Shirt Tutorial-Two Ways!

2011-08-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I love to sit together with the Lands End Kids catalog that I get in the mail and circle the things we like with a marker. I know it's pathetic, but we enjoy it. When it gets to the graphic tee section, without fail she will circle anything with sweets on it. The caramel apple shirt, the ice cream cone shirt, the lollipop shirt. So, I thought I would make a lollipop shirt of her own! I ended up making two different versions, one for Paige and one for her little friend Brooklyn. (The cute face below.)

Both versions are quick and easy and can be made with small scraps! Yay! Brooklyn's is made with scraps of old t-shirts.

And Paige's version is a swirly reverse applique. A bit of ribbon and tulle finish them off!

To make a reverse applique lolly:

1. Cut a scrap of fabric slightly larger than your design and pin it to the inside of the front of the shirt with the right side facing down.

2. Turn the shirt right side out and use a sewing pen or quilter's chalk to draw a swirl on the front.

3. Sew the fabrics together along the swirly pattern.

4. Use sharp scissors to cut in between each layer of swirly stitches.

5. Trim away extra as needed as evenly as possible. (Gently slide scissors backward slightly as you cut for a more even cut.)

6. Pin a few inches of ribbon to lollipop, folding under the edges, and sew on with a ribbon or tulle bow on top.

The curled-up edges probably won't appear until your shirt has gone through the wash. (Or not at all if it's ribbed knit.) And don't worry about the unfinished edges; they won't fray!

To make a scrappy lolly:

1. Cut .5" strips of t-shirt knit in three different colors.
2. Draw your lollipop onto the front of the shirt with a sewing pen or quilter's chalk.
3. Pin the first color on and sew it to your shirt along the drawn lines.
4. Pin and sew the next color right next to the first.
5. Repeat for the third color.
6. Finish by sewing on a few inches of ribbon with the raw edges folded under and a ribbon or tulle bow.

A couple of do's and don'ts...

DO: take your time sewing on the scraps of knit. Instead of racing like a mad woman to finish it, ending up with weird stitching....like I did. :O)

DON'T: use a dark fabric under a light shirt for the reverse applique. The brown on Paige's shirt shows through a little on the outer edge unfortunately. Oh well. :O)

I hope you enjoy them!

Makes me want candy. :O)

Have a wonderful, wonderful day!

Love,

Disney

Excuses, Excuses...

2011-08-21T13:36:00.000-07:00

Some of you must be wondering if I've given up sewing and crafting! It's been a while since I've had a good sewing tutorial. I have a couple of excuses, one lame one and one legitimate one. :O)

First: my good excuse! Paige and I have been busy getting ready to start kindergarten! I'm working on getting my homeschooling certificate which requires me to read about infinity books. (Not my specialty.) :O)

We've also been enjoying the last bit of summer. Like going to the county fair! A friend took us the other night and we had a blast! It was Paige's first time doing everything. So fun! I snapped a few photos to share...

And my second, way-less-cool excuse? For the last month, my craft room has looked like this:

That photo is totally genuine, no staging. It really was that bad. I needed the shelves for something else and in my usual non-thinking spontaneity I just threw the fabric wherever.....Yeah. Who could sew in that?? BUT. I finally had a full day yesterday to devote to it, so now it looks like this!

Ahhhh. I can breath-and sew! So don't worry, I've got tons of projects I want to get started on and the tutorials will be flowing in in no time. :O) (And-before you call "Hoarders"-I promise the rest of my house doesn't get like that, just my craft room for some reason!)

I'll see you soon! Hope you're enjoying these dog days of summer!

Love,

Disney

What Was I Thinking??

2011-08-14T22:30:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? We cut Paige's hair for the first time! The story above is what I'm telling myself, but I confess that I am totally depressed about it now. Sob! Her beautiful, long hair! Granted, 5 minutes after it was brushed it was so stringy that she looked like a street urchin, but who cares about that now? It's gone!

They say that when people have a part of their body amputated they can experience depression; does that count for hair, too? And what if it's technically part of your daughter's body? Am I still OK?

I know, I know. It will grow. :o) And I'll get used to it. Maybe what's really making me sad is that it doesn't look as much like her...it doesn't feel like the same little punkin! I'm sure it will soon. In the mean time, I thank the Lord that I have a healthy daughter, with lovely hair, whatever the length. She's still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Hope you're having a good day!

Love,

-Disney

Making a Book in Photoshop: a Tutorial

2011-08-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

This book was pretty simple in concept to make; draw pictures, put them in photoshop, use a stamp filter, copy the lines, color with paintbrush tool and add text. Easy, right? Or so it sounds. Buuuut, like any project, things are always a little more complex than they look, so I'm here to walk you through the little steps and help you from going crazy. Yay for not going crazy!

Obviously one of the more important parts of the project: Writing the story! Depending on where your talents lie, this might be the most difficult part. Like they always say, it's best if you write about something you know. And since it's going to be for the little one(s) in your life, you'll probably want to make it about them or something they love. Or both! Write about Kayla's birthday, or the outside world through her eyes, or about her favorite foods or toys come to life, anything! My book was about capturing all the cute/funny/exhausting things Paige does throughout our typical day and how much I love her for all of it. If nothing springs to mind right away, as you watch your son or daughter for the next few days, try imagining them as the subject of a book and see if that helps. And if they do something sweet or funny, jot it down for reference!

Next step...illustrating!

If you're intimidated by the idea of illustrating your book, don't worry, just do your best! Your kids will love your quirky little drawings. And if all else fails, everyone loves a good stick figure! :o) You can start out with pencil and then go over them with darker lines. If you have a scanner, you may not need to do the next few steps, but if (like me) you don't have one, simply take a photo of the drawing straight on and with good lighting (outdoor sunlight worked best for me) and load them up.

Here's how page 8 of my story looked when I loaded it to my computer:

Open your illustration in Photoshop and go to "Filter" in the menu bar. Select "Sketch" then "Stamp".

(I have a pretty old version of Photoshop, so yours might look quite different from these screen shots.)

Play around with Light/Dark Balance and Smoothness until it looks right to you and click "OK". (Be sure that your color selection is black/white with white as the background color.)

If you see some unwanted black spots here and there, use the eraser tool to remove them.

Since the way I colored the illustrations was with the Photoshop paintbrush tool, which will color over your black lines (not good), I first copied all the lines to another layer. To do that simply choose "Select" from menu bar, then choose "Color Range"...

... in the "Color Range" window, select "shadows" and click "OK".

That will select all the black lines in your picture. Copy the selection (command + c on Mac) and get a new layer. (command+shift+n)

Then paste (command + v) the lines to your new layer. It's important that this layer stay on top of the others.

Ok. Now to color your picture, make another new layer, select the paintbrush tool and your color and go to town! I chose darker colors and then changed the opacity to about 40%-ish because I liked the look of it.

Something I found helpful for the coloring process was this: before coloring your pictures, choose a color scheme. I put all my colors on a separate canvas so that I could use the eyedropper tool on the color I wanted for easy access. That will keep you from saying "what shade did I use for the skin in the last picture??".

Now. After I've explained the way that I colored my illustrations, I'd like to say this: don't do it that way!! Haha. It was a little time consuming, to be honest. A much quicker way to do it would be to use the paint bucket tool. One click, and everything within the lines of that area will be the color you want! The only downside of that is that your lines must connect. If they don't, the paint will escape through the line breaks and color everything else (figure b). So if you can be sure that your illustrations will all have connected lines, definitely use the paint bucket tool. :O) (ah, retrospect)

Final step: adding text! Pretty simple: select the text tool and click and drag to create a text box (it will automatically create a new layer for your text). Select your font, color, and size and write that page's part of the story. Then move it around to the area of the page you'd like it to be.

And your done!

I hope I haven't left anything out, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. And again, even if you don't have fancy photo editing programs or whatever, just use paper and crayons! Your kids will love it either way. :O)

Have fun!!

Love,

-Disney

P.S. I'm not exactly a Photoshop "whiz". If any of you are, you're probably laughing....that's OK. :O)

Someone's Peeking...

2011-08-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Someone's peeking out of my tomato plants right now...

Our naughty little neighborhood bunnies. :o) At first I was ready to go all Mr. McGregor on them, but then I realized: hey, why not just share? There's enough for a couple of extra little mouths.

Besides...can you blame 'em?

num.
Hope you're having a lovely day today!
-Disney

"Mommy and Paige" A Story For My Punkin

2011-08-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

Every night, right before I go to bed, I sneak into Paige's room, stare at her for a few moments, give her kisses and tell her how much I love her. As I was going through that little nightly ritual earlier this month, it struck me as quite hilarious that even though I spend seemingly every breathing moment with this little girl during the day, I still miss her so much her after she's gone to bed that I have to tip-toe in and see her once more before I go to sleep. She just absolutely owns my heart. Anyway, that night I thought of making up a little story about it, and now it's finally finished!

I wanted to share it with you guys, too. :o) I hope you enjoy it!

There it is! :o)
I'm looking forward to getting it bound somewhere one of these days. Every page documents real-life Paige-isms and I think it will be something fun for her to keep and look back on her childhood.
I know I promised a how-to for those of you who have Photoshop and would like to make something similar, and I will have that up soon!

In the mean time, have positively lovely day!

Love,

-Disney

J. Crew Should Hire Me...Just Sayin'.

2011-08-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this "Petal Tee"refashion I did last year?

Well, I was on this cute blog, Welcome to the Good Life, and I saw her do almost the same shirt based on this J. Crew version, which is called the "Petal Necklace Tee"! Amazing!!

I am totally excited that my mind came up with something similar to what a J. Crew designer came up with! (And even more exciting that I came up with it first! Ha!) And what's funny, is that I remember saying in the tutorial that it reminded me of something you might see at J. Crew. So there you go! Now you DO see it at J. Crew! I'm expecting my check any day now... ;o)

Dot Dot Dot...a Tee Refashion

2011-07-30T14:24:00.000-07:00

Let's do something simple today. Something you don't even need a sewing machine for!

Grab an old tee, like this one I picked up at the Dollar Tree last year. (I knew I'd need it for something!)

Add some circles cut from another old, stained tee.

And hand stitch them to your shirt. Done!

And cute.

For best results, hand stitch while watching Pride and Prejudice. (The Collin Firth version, of course.)

You can use embroidery floss to stitch the circles on, or if you're too cheap to buy embroidery floss (like me!) just quadruple your thread. I love a slightly chunkier stitch, so it looks charmingly homemade.

Wear it with a smile!

Or a....you know, whatever.

Love you!

-Disney

P.S.
Make Paige's Flower pin
Make Paige's skirt
Make Paige's socks

Something For My Punkin

2011-07-21T21:46:00.000-07:00

Paige LOVES books. And the other night as I was lying in bed, I thought how fun it would be to write a little book for especially for her! I hopped out of bed and typed up the story in just a few minutes and the next day I drew illustrations for it. Now I'm just adding some finishing touches in Photoshop. It's SO much fun! I'll share the book when I'm finished, but here's a sneak peak:

From this:

To this:

At first I was wishing that I had a more artistic friend to do the illustrations for it (...I never said I was a sketch artist.) but then I realized that having mommy's goofy drawings would make it just that more special. I think she'll like it. :O)

I'll share the how-to later for those who have photoshop (it's really simple), but even if you just have crayons and paper, making a little book for your child(ren) is such a fun and silly little project. You should give it a try!

Pippa and Rascal Pattern Download

2011-07-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I finally got this pattern ready to download and print easily for you guys. So sorry that took so long.
A big, giant "Thank you!" to "Essence", who recommended Embetit.com for the document hosting. Totally wish I'd heeded that advice before fighting with Google Docs for about a billion hours. :o)I still have to perfect my PDF compressing process; the images lost some quality, which I'm not thrilled about. But hey, not everything has to be perfect all the time, right?? Right. To download the pattern, click the downward pointing arrow next to "share". To print, press the printer icon next to that. Easy!

So, how's your day going today?? I've got one of those headaches that just makes you want to run into a wall repeatedly, but other than that I'm feeling fantastic!! What a lovely world it is. :o)
Take care, you guys!
Love,-Disney

Turning a T-Shirt Into a Pillow (Tutorial)

2011-07-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

My husband loves to tell Chuck Norris jokes with the guys at church. It's hilarious.

So when I saw this shirt at the thrift store I got so excited! Unfortunately it was way too big. In retrospect, probably a good thing, I'm not sure I really wanted him to walk around in this anyway. However, it turned out to be a great shirt to use for a throw pillow to put in his "man cave"!

If you have a fun shirt that you want to repurpose, try this! It's scandalously easy. All you do is:

Cut a square out of both layers of your shirt, with image centered. Mine was an 18"X15" rectangle.

Pin the two squares together along the edge with right sides facing and sew together, leaving an opening just large enough for your hand to fit through.

Snip the corners and turn right side out.

Stuff. (I highly recommend stuffing with a high quality polyfil or even a pillow form, rather than taking the stuffing from a cheap-o Walmart pillow, like I did. It turned out rather lumpy.)

Finish off with a slip stitch.

If you don't know about the slip stitch (sometimes called "invisible stitch" or "ladder stitch"), I'm excited to show it to you! It's great for closing up stuffed projects like this one. I'm going to use a contrasting thread color to help you see what we're doing...

Pin the area closed, with edges tucked in.

Knot your thread and come up from the inside so that your knot will be hidden.

Make a small stitch through one side of your fabric.

Insert your needle into the other side, directly across from where your thread came up last.

Bring your needle out on the same side, just like your first small stitch.

Repeat, inserting your needle again directly across from where your thread came out last.

Keep repeating...

All the way across your opening. It will look like this if left loose:

Gently pull your thread to tighten the stitches-and viola! Invisible!

Then you'll just knot your thread, stick your needle back into the pillow, and come out several inches away. Pull the thread a little and snip off.

There you go! A super-easy project. And you don't have to be a Chuck Norris fan to enjoy it.

But in case you are.....

Have a great day!

Love,

-Disney

Blogger Blooper Week

2011-07-14T05:05:00.000-07:00

I really didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth. I'm sorry. If I'd known I was going to, I would have warned you. :O)

Anyway, Cheri at I Am Momma Hear Me Roar asked me to be part of her blogger blooper week, and I said sure! So I'm over there today, making fun of myself a little. That's always a good time! ;o)

See you back here soon!
--Disney

Bobby

2011-06-30T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've been missing you all lately, sorry about the absence. A young man that my husband baptized last year went missing last week, and we've all been so worried, I just haven't had the heart to blog or be crafty.

Last night they found his body in the lake, and we are just heartbroken about it. There was alcohol involved, and they think he just fell in while walking along the lake. What a horrible accident.

Will you please say a prayer for Bobby's family and friends? I also want to pray for everyone who struggles with alcoholism. What a lot of beautiful lives it has stolen from us all.

Love,
Disney

Pippa and Rascal- A Free Softie Pattern!

2011-06-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

OK, I've failed. I can't figure out where to upload a pdf pattern so that you can all download it without having to sign up for something! Sooo.....we're just going to enjoy the pattern here on the blog for now until I get that set up. Sound good? Good!

Here it is!

I did as you all suggested and combined the two prototype foxes to make a perfect little fox, who I've name "Pippa" (no, not after that Pippa). I also created a slightly variated version; a raccoon named "Rascal"!

As I was making them, I developed little personalities for them in my mind. Do you ever do that? I had this ridiculous little notion that Pippa and Rascal were great friends who've known each other since childhood, and even though they pretend to be annoyed at each other's differences, they are secretly kind of in love with each other.

(OK. I know. I have no life.) :o)

Of course, "Rascal" can be a "Regina" and "Pippa" could be a "Peter", just choose a different fabric and it can be for a boy or girl!

You could even make your own felt bows or bow ties for them. Just have fun!

:o)

Here's the how-to:

· Print the pattern pieces at the bottom of the post and use them to cut out the instructed amount of pieces from your choice of fabric. Use felt for the facial features, tummy and tail pieces.

· Place the felt pieces on desired areas and sew on with matching thread (be sure to match up the tail stripes!).

· Pin the leg, arm, ear and tailpieces on top of each other, with right sides facing.

· Sew together, leaving the top of the arms and legs open, and the bottom of the ears and tail open.

· To move along the curves easily, while the needle is down, lift the presser foot and move the fabric over slightly. Lower the presser foot and continue sewing.

· Cut small notches in around the curved seams, or trim with pinking shears.

· Turn right side out and press.

· Then stuff arms and legs with polyester filling

· Baste the openings of arms and legs closed.

· Then pin and baste the arms, ears and tail to the front body piece as pictured.

· Put the back body piece over the front body piece, right sides facing and arms, ears and tail sandwiched in-between.

· Sew together, leaving the bottom end open.

· Turn right side out.

· Pin and baste legs to the front body piece.

· Stuff the body.

· Fold under the edges of the front and back body pieces, and pin well.

· Stitch closed using a slip stitch.

All done!

(Click the pattern pieces to print enlarged versions.)

I hope you enjoy!! Send a photo if you make one. Or upload it to the Flickr group!

And if anyone knows about the pdf hosting place, please do pass it on! :O)

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend friends.

Love,

-Disney

Homemade Larabars

2011-06-23T05:20:00.000-07:00

The other night at church a friend brought some samples of a homemade Larabar for Paige. Unfortunately, Paige didn't get any, because Paige has a naughty mommy who loves sweet things. :o/

But when I've mentioned before that my little darlin' has several food sensitivities, many of you shared that you and your family have similar issues. So, I absolutely had to share this simple and super-delicious recipe that my friend passed on to me. It comes from this website, and there are many more variations there you should check it out!

The original recipe called for cashews and medjool dates, which were in the sample I tried-YUM! But I never have cool stuff like that on hand. What I did have, is raisins and peanuts. You probably have those, too!

Throw 1/2 cup of each, 1/8 tsp of salt into...

...the food processor for a minute or two.

Then press into a fun mold. (Or just a cookie sheet if that's what you've got.)

Toss them in the fridge for a bit, and you've got a fantastic little (dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free)snack!

Paige's reaction to them was something like "OH! Yum! YUM YUM YUM, Mommy!" and then she asked for her "special snacks" for the next two days. She loves the peanut butter cookie Larabars, so I'm going to try those next. This is my kind of cooking. If everything were this easy to make, my family would eat like royalty! I hope you have fun making them! And just because you don't have food allergies doesn't mean that you can't enjoy them just as much.

Have a great day!

Love,

Disney

Thrifting Bliss

2011-06-20T22:43:00.000-07:00

I hope this doesn't sound materialistic, but isn't stuff just kinda fun? Shopping for stuff is fun. And shopping for stuff that's practically free? Really fun.

That's why I love shopping at thrift stores. It's like the dollar store, only with stuff you'd actually want! And since bargain hunting is no fun unless you gab with your friends about it, I wanted to share a few of my recent thrifted finds with you guys. Like these gorgeous wooden bowls for just over ten cents each! (I'm on the biggest wood kick right now for some reason.)

A Plaid tunic and vintage belt:

Vintage remnants: Yes!!

Loved this skirt and shirt. And bonus--they were handmade!

This game is for Paige. Really, it is.... :o)

True story: I have been looking at this wrapping since the first time I went to our local thrift store a year ago! I never got it because it didn't have a sticker and I was too scared to ask how much it was. ( I know. Pathetic.) :O) Sailboats make me so happy!

Did any of you have a little suitcase like this when you were a kid? I think I might have had a Care Bears one. I just couldn't resist it! Paige will love packing it up for a trip to Grandma's.

And my absolute favorite recent find: these awesome wheels! I couldn't believe it when I saw these on the shelf and they were my size. What are the odds? And I really needed....roller skates....right? :O)

So there are a few of the fun things I've found lately. Are you so ready to hit the thrift stores now?? If you've never checked out your smaller, local thrift stores you should do it! The larger chain thrift stores are all right, but I always have much more luck at the stores that you have to hunt for. And don't forget, yard sale season! I always find my fabric and crafting supplies at yard sales and thrift stores. I love the thrill of the hunt!

Have a great day today!

Love,

Disney

A Robe for Paige!

2011-06-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

Dana, from MADE just finished her Beach Robe (made from a towel!) pattern for kids. Oh my! How cute it is!! She asked me and a few others to test the pattern for her in advance, and here is the one I made for Paige:

She loves it!!

Great for the beach (or lake)

Great for the bath!

It was perfect because Paige hates being cold after a bath and can't keep her towel on, so I've been looking for an inexpensive robe for her. :O)

I have to tell you this: I almost peed my pants when Dana asked me to test her pattern for her. I love Dana. Love her! So, I didn't really want to say "nooooo thank you!!", but I was seriously afraid. I DON'T do patterns. They hate me, I hate them, we stay away from each other. But she sent me the pdf, I swallowed hard, put on my big-girl pants and tried it out. Oh my goodness! It was so easy!! And now I love Dana even more. :o) I want to make infinity of these robes. Paige needs at least 5, right?

Anyway, you can check out the pattern here if you wish! It has instructions for lots of different versions, so you can really make it your own. It's fun!

And! Speaking of patterns, I'm almost done with the fox. It's not as fancy as Dana's, but hey, I'm not Dana. I'm Disney! And this will be my first pattern! I'm excited.

So have a great night! Happy Father's Day tomorrow!!

Love,
Disney

Mending and Answering

2011-06-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my mending/alterations pile...

Are you proud of me? :o)

I pulled this old yard sale skirt out that I had forgotten about. I had almost convinced myself that I could wear it as-is, bohemian style...when I remembered that I whacked a chunk out a long time ago for a project. Bummer.

But no worries! I just cut it off and hemmed it up-new skirt!

'Cause I needed a another skirt. :o)

Yay for small fixes. :o)

So, off-topic, thanks for the sweet comments about the last post! I'm flattered that some of you thought I was clever enough to think of it on my own, but I've seen a couple of posts like that before and I thought it would be fun to try! There were so many questions that I thought I would just answer them in a post.

Q: 6 am????

A: While I do prefer mornings to late-nights, 6 am is totally not my idea. Paige has always been an early riser. Someday she'll be a teenager and I'll get revenge! :O)

Q:Who's the baby?

A: That's a little boy I watch on the weekdays. I go over to a friend's house to watch her two grand kids. That's where the beautiful view at 11am is from! I love seeing that water every morning.

Q: Will you cook for me??

A: Oh my goodness, I am so excited that I've fooled you into thinking I can cook! Success, haha! But really. It's just spinach, strawberries, chopped walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette; chicken sauteed in olive oil; halved red potatoes with olive oil, dried onion flakes and Johnny's seasoning. Couldn't be easier.

Q: What are you growing?

A: We're working on a small little garden in our back yard, hopefully to be a large garden eventually. So far we have Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes and onions. I kill things (it's bad.) so wish me luck!!

Q: What work book is your daughter using?

A: The one in the photo is a Spectrum Math (grade 1) book that we picked up at a bookstore. We plan to home school Paige but she's still very young, so it's kind of just fun learning at this point. :O)

Q: Where are your 3pm shoes from?

A: I got those at a cheesy little store in a mall called "Papaya". I wear them every day! :o)

I hope that clears everything up! :o)

Everyone have a delightful weekend!!

Love,

-Disney

Our Day in Photos

2011-06-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

Just another wonderful Wednesday. :O)

Hope yours was good, too. :o)

Love,
Disney

Lined Envelopes (With Templates)

2011-06-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to make matching stationary for a long time and I finally took the time to do it yesterday!

As I was looking for templates for envelopes I was amazed at how difficult it was to find the different sizes I wanted, so I took apart some envelopes I had at home and traced them! I thought I would share them with you. I threw in a liner template for each one as well. Just click the little template photos and it should take you to a full-size version that you can print. :o)

The larger templates were cut in half so that you can print them easily. Once you've printed them, trace one (you don't need to trace the edge that says "flip") and then flip over to trace the other. Then fold and glue!

I hope you have fun with them! The ones photographed were all made with 12"x12" scrap booking paper, so if you have one of those great stacks of patterned paper it can be really fun to make matching color combos. Although, I think a simpler look would be lovely too. My sister-in-law suggested craft paper to me, and I love that thought. Wouldn't that be lovely? She even made some using a paper bag. Now that's cool.

Phew! It feels so good putting an idea up there that isn't a sewing project! Once in a while I step back and go "Oh yeah! There's a whole other world of crafting away from my sewing table!". I know that not all of you are sewers (sewists? Sew-mysters?) and I sometimes feel a little guilty that I don't share more non-sewing ideas.

Have a great day!!

Love,

Disney

A Little More Foxy?

2011-06-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a little stuffed fox. It was so cute in my imagination, and actually I was fairly pleased with the way it turned out. (Other than the fact that I forgot to add a tail!)

But then I showed it to my husband and the conversation went something like this:

me: "Look! I made this! Can you tell what it is?"

husband: "Er, um, hmm.....uh, I don't know?"

me: "(frown) It's a fox!!"

husband: "Oh! Yeah! That's what I thought it was." :O)

So I went back to the sewing room and made a few tweaks, and this is how it came out; a little more foxy?

(It has a tail!)

Something in me still likes the pink one, probably because it's pink and polka-dotted. And I think I like the nose on the pink one a little better.

Anyway, I was going to make a pattern to share with you, but I guess I need to know whether to call it a fox or a cat? :o) What does it look like to you?