{watermelon garland}.

i love all things garland.  you can never have too  many and they are appropriate to have hanging year round.

materials:

• green cardstock
• white card stock
• red cardstock
• sharpie
• tape gun
• twine
• mini wooden clips

one.  figure out what size you want your watermelon slices to be.  then, find a bowl {or something round} to trace.

two.  cut the circle out and then cut the circle in 1/2.  this half circle will be your pattern for all the green parts of the watermelon.

three.  after you have traced the number of green pieces you want, take your pattern and trim it down maybe 1/4 inch all around.

four.  this new half circle will be your pattern for all the white parts of the watermelon.

five.  after you have traced the number of white pieces you want, take your original pattern and trim it down another 1/4 inch all around.

six.  trace your new pattern onto red and cut out however many you need.

seven.  using your tape gun, start taping all pieces together!

eight.  don’t forget to add your watermelon seeds with a sharpie!

nine.  string them up!

xoxo, amanda

{stamped kitchen towels.}

the thing i hate most about stamps, is that once you lift the stamp there is very little you can do to fix any mistakes or flaws.  i am such a perfectionist, so this project made me incredibly nervous while i was doing it.  some of the stamping isn’t perfect, but i sucked it up and moved on.  i ended up being very pleased with the results.

you will need:

-flour sack towels {i bought 2 for $1.50 at wal-mart}

-craft paint in any color

-textile medium

-foam brush

-stamp(s) of your choice

first, wash and dry your towels before you stamp them.  lay out some newspaper or something to protect your table just in case paint seeps through the towel.

mix 2 parts paint to 1 part of the textile medium.  the textile medium will make the paint flexible and washable on the fabric.

spread the paint into a very thin layer to dip your stamp into. 

hold your breath, and start stamping…

 

after the paint is dry, set the paint with a dry, hot iron.  cover your towel with a clean cotton sheet before ironing it to make sure the paint is protected.  do not wash your towels for 7 days after painting.

-jessi

{dipped wooden utensils.}

i love finding easy ways to turn ordinary things into cute and functional pieces. this project does that perfectly!

supplies:
wooden/bamboo serving utensils
craft paint
masking or painters tape
sponge brush

1. wrap a piece of tape around each utensil to mark off the area you want to paint and have a straight line.

2. paint the handle of each utensils and let dry for about 15 minutes between coats. i did 3 coats each.

3. after they are done drying, either spray a clear coat on top and let dry, or if you don’t want to do the clear coat just remove the tape.

-jessi

easter decorating.

i love bunnies.  fake bunnies of course, because let’s be honest . . . who wants to clean up rabbit poop and have a pet that has to stay in a cage the majority of the time?  not me.  my mom + i try to find each other a new bunny each easter, and i love that we do this.  so needless to say, you will see lots of bunnies around my home.

family room mantle.

i found felt easter eggs at target last year and strung them on some twine to jazz up my monogram board hanging over my couch.

this little bun is sitting on the ledge to my office.  i put some of the washi candles i made and blogged about recently by him.

this frame is sitting on my coffee/wine bar.  i like to change out what is inside with the season.  i found this free printable on pinterest.  frame is from hobby lobby.

this little bunny is in our loft upstairs.

and you know i NEVER forget the baby’s room!  i hung a hot pink grapevine wreath on her door.  this is one that i bought already painted, but would be easy enough to make!  then i strung some felted eggs across the top of the door.  she loves to try to grab them as we walk under!

the bunny garland i had hanging on her crib last year.  but that was when she couldn’t move and definitely couldn’t grab them.  not so much this year!  so i relocated them.  to make this i just printed a bunny pattern from the internet.  then i traced it onto burlap and cut them out.  tied a little twine around their necks and glued on a cottonball tail.  then i used craft glue to glue them onto jute.  and walah!  there you have it!  the wreath is from target last year and is the perfect colors for her room!

i used this little bunny basket from target to put lotions and creams in on my littles changing table.

and my favorite….the peep shirt my mom made!  all you need is a plain shirt, a peep pattern, and gold iron on sheets from hobby lobby.  the rest is pretty self explanatory right?!

hoppy easter friends (; -amanda

{twine carrots}.

let me start by saying i love love how these turned out.  these are not for the faint of heart.  if you are a 15 minute crafter who wants a compelted project in that amount of time, you will only have half a carrot.  these take time – like 30 minutes a piece.  but, they are so awesome when finished! they are not hard to make, just time consuming.

materials:
orange twine
newspaper
packing tape
green sprigs
hot glue + gun

one.  this is what the green sprigs look like that i bought from hobby lobby.  cut a few sprigs off…

...and tape them together using a little packing tape.

two.  use the newspaper to form a “carrot”.  there is no easy way to tell you how to do this.  i just kind of rolled mine into a cone and then cut it down to the size i wanted.  then i stuffed the carrot with more newspaper.  once you have your form, stick your sprigs in the middle on top and cover your whole carrot with packing tape.

three.  start at the bottom of your carrot and start wrapping it in orange twine.  wrap close together+ tight and use glue as you go to secure the twine in place.

we are ready for peter to come to our house! (:

xoxox amanda

{lucky treats}.

kids love rice krispie treats.  and let’s be honest, all adults enjoy one too.  so while trying to figure out a dessert to go with the dinner i am taking a sweet friend who just had a baby, i decided on these little treats.  they were perfect for many reasons.  one, she has a 3 year old that i think will just love them.  two, when i was a new mom, i didn’t want people to bring me desserts.  yes, i may have had some weak moments during pregnancy, but post pregnancy, i wasn’t trying to eat desserts.  i was trying to snap back on my favorite prepregnancy jeans {even if i had to lay back on the bed just to zip ’em up….}.  so i say all that to say, in my opinion, these aren’t that fattening of a dessert.  and three, tomorrow is st. patrick’s day so these are extra festive.  these are quick and easy, so whip up a batch for the holiday tomorrow!

ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
3 cups mini marshmallows
4 cups lucky charms

one.  melt butter in a pan over medium heat.

two.  add marshmallows.

….and stir until they are melted.

three.  pour in lucky charms and stir until they are coated with the buttery marshmallows.

four.  pour into a well buttered dish and let sit until ready to cut.

and hopefully, you have a cute little helper at home who would like to join in the fun!  mine can’t resist a bowl of lucky charm cereal WITH milk (:

xoxo amanda

{diy washi tea lights}

this is by no means an original idea.  i just know that sometimes you need a little something to spark your creativity.  all you need is a few rolls of washi tape and a pack of tea light candles.  i bought a pack of 24 at hobby lobby for 4.99 and i love that they were clear tea light holders so when lit, the washi tape will glow!  happy spring (:

xoxo amanda

{st. patty’s day.}

one week until st. patrick’s day, the day to celebrate shamrocks, beer, irish luck, and all things green & gold!  i love being irish and i love celebrating it with a high tolerance for alcohol and tomfoolery. 😉  here’s a little taste of how i am gearing up around here…

i used the same grapevine wreath from valentine’s day, and added some shamrocks and ribbon from hobby lobby. 

 

 

 

i bought wooden letter “u”s from hobby lobby, painted them gold, and added dots with a sharpie to make horseshoes.

 

“mac luaidh” is my last name in irish gaelic.  my tattoo is the feminine version, “nic luaidh”.

mini tassel garland…super fast and easy craft.

more shamrocks, a horseshoe, and leftover green crinkle paper from christmas for the win.

 

 

“if you’re lucky enough to be irish, you’re lucky enough.”

i hope everyone enjoys being irish for a day and partaking in one (or 10) green beers.

cheers!

march.

time to add some green and gold here and there in celebration of st. patrick’s day.  we love st. patrick’s day in our household because….well, we are irish.  at least my husband + daughter are so i will claim to be too!

a few strands of garland, two wreaths, and of course some paper straws.

i strung green pom poms on green + white bakers twine. fringed gold and green tissue paper and strung on green + white twine. and used burlap paper {bought in a “pad” at hobby lobby} and added green shamrocks and glitter. i used mod podge, green food coloring, and water and poured it in the bottle on my mantle. i then let it all drip out. this is washable, so the glass is not green forever!

you know how i love grapevine wreaths! i sprayed this one green and then added green glitter spray on top. i used my flag cutter and cut flags out of different colors of card stock. then i glued them on to green + white bakers twine. i made a mini version that looks exactly like this and hung it on my daughters nursery door. you can’t forget about baby!

i picked up these green straws at my favorite local spot – oliver’s twist. the gold chevron i got at michael’s.

the last st. patrick’s day touch i did was to change up my chalkboard.  i really wanted to use my silver chipboard letters that i got from the dollar spot at target.  i wanted something short and sweet so this is what i came up with.

lucky to be my husband’s wife.  lucky to be my baby’s momma.  lucky to be my fur babies momma.  lucky to be my momma + dad’s daughter.  lucky to be my brother + sister’s sister.  lucky to be my nieces + nephews aunt.  lucky to be my best friend’s best friend.

xoxo amanda

{homemade dishwasher detergent.}

the diy laundry detergent recipe that i posted seems to be one of the most popular posts that we have done, so it only seemed fitting that i post a diy dishwasher detergent recipe as well.  the recipe is very quick and easy to throw together, plus it is eco-friendly.

 

recipe:

1 1/2 cups of washing soda

1/2 cup of baking soda

1 1/2 cups of lemi-shine (or citric acid)

1/2 cup of sea salt

 

just mix all of the ingredients in a bowl so you aren’t left with layers that you can’t mix in your container.

 

store in an air-tight container and use 2 tbsp for each load.

 

-jessi