Homemade Christmas and Birthdays

My husband and I never planned out when we were having our kids. It just so happens that between Dec. 20th and Jan. 24th is all three of our children's birthdays and Christmas! So I always try to find deals through out the year and such to save us some money when trying to throw together Christmas and Birthdays. Well this year I didn't buy much at all. So here it is half way into Nov and I have NO Christmas gifts and only Birthday gifts for one child. My youngest is going to be three in Jan. I remembered that a couple years ago I got on a felt food kick and made a bunch of donuts. I also got together with a few crafty moms and did an exchange. Her brother loved the stuff. I had made him a camp fire with all the fixin's for S'mores. It was adorable. So I started looking for stuff for my daughter. I came across this fantastic shop on etsy with amazing patterns Gulf Coast Cottage. There are things for boys and girls. There are a couple different specials too. One is a buy 4 tutorials get one free. Or there is a bundle set on their store front that is for 10 patterns of your choice for $45. What a great deal! Thanks to these patterns I now have my soon to be 3 yr old's birthday gifts planned out. If you have a little one who loves to play pretend check out this shop and their adorable patterns!

Altered Flip Flops

I am one of those people that can never wear those cheap knock around flip flops with the rubber straps. They hurt between my tows. So when a friend shares this tutorial from The Mother Huddle, I knew i finally had a reason to take advantage of all those great summer sales! Are these not the cutest thing? You could do so many things with these! You could forgo the fabric and try rope, leather, lace, ribbon, etc. And think of all the ways to embellish them! Buttons, beads, flowers, feathers, bows, etc. No one will ever have the same flip flops as you again! LOL Anyway back to the reason for this post. These are the pair I made today. I love them, They are super comfy! And when my daughter breaks hers... it never fails she breaks the knobby thing off the bottom of at least one pair a summer.) I will now have an easy fix for it! I am going to try to make my 2 yr old a pair soon. 

I hope you like these! If you make some please leave a comment with a link to yours!

Ducktape Rose Pen

I know I have been MIA with the tutorials. Sorry about that. My husband has been working out of town a lot more. Leaving me with three munchkins to entertain more. So, my spare time has been spread really thin. Now we're on summer break and I need activities to help curb the summer boredom. I am sure many of you are facing the same issue. Hopefully this is something that can keep the kiddos busy for a while. My 9 yr old really likes this project. She is requesting more tape. lol

Ducktape Rose Pens

Supplies:
Ducktape on the roll or sheet, I prefer two or more colors/patterns
A ruler (if you are using a roll)
Scissors
Pen

Start by cutting your ducktape into 2x2 inch squares, or close to it. I find the sheets are easier for the kids because there is a grid pattern printed on the back of the sheet. With one sheet you should get 20 squares. If you want the rose fuller you can cut more squares if you'd like. If you are using the roll it may be easier to cut as you go since the tape can be so sticky.

You will also need to cut a small piece to cover the top of the pen. I had a strip that was approx 3/4 in wide so I just cut a piece of that.

Place that over the top of your pen and smooth it down on the sides.

Take one of your 2x2 squares. Fold one corner diagonally across the square piece of tape. Leaving about a 1/4 inch of tape at two edges.

Now take another corner and fold it across again. This time leaving the edge on one side only.

Take your triangle and attach one end to the top/side of your pen. Spin the pen to wrap that tape edge around it.

Repeat that step again making sure to stager them along the way.

Continue adding petals until your rose is as full as you'd prefer.

Now we are going to make a base for the stem. (I didn't have green duck tape so I am using 1 inch vinyl tape instead) Cut a couple pieces approx. 3 inches long with angled ends

Wrap that around the base of the flower as well as part of the pen.

Repeat that step again.

Now you can wrap the tape the way I did here, spiraling down the pen. Or you can cut a piece of duck tape the length of the pen. Attach it to one side all the way own the pen and then roll it on that way.

There you have it! Your very own Ducktape Rose Pen! If you replaces the pen with a chop stick it'd make a cute hair stick!

A sew along for Japan!

This is a fun and simple way to help kids in Japan. Participate in the sew along and make a shirt that will be sent to Japan for one of the many children effected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami! Just think of the smile you'll put on a child's face! Check out the link below for all the info!

Sweet As Steel Etsy Launch This Monday!

Sweet As Steels new etsy shop will launch Monday, Feb. 14th! In honor of the new shop we now have a Facebook Fan Page. Each new fan we get on the page between now and Monday, Feb. 21st will be entered into a drawing. One person will win a custom Sweet As Steel prize pack! Check out the page and get yourself into the drawing! Good luck everyone!

I am not above begging....

  

:) I entered my two girlie's into a model search for an amazing web store. I am hoping that I can get as many of my lovely virtual friends as possible to vote for them. So I am going to post it here and beg all of my readers to do the same. All you have to do is visit the Your Sparkle Box Boutique facebook page, like the page, and then like my daughter's pictures. PLEASE! LOL Also while you are there check out her amazing handmade products! She sells things for infants to adults. Her stuff is gorgeous! Thanks everyone!

These are the pictures posted:

             

Button Rings!

These are so fun and super easy to make!

 Supplies:
2-3 buttons various sizes
Embellishments: I am using a feather and a rhinestone
Glue (hot glue, e6000, glue dots)
1 ring blank

 Start with the ring blank and put a dab of glue on it.

 Attach the ring blank to the back of your largest button.

 Grab a smaller button and add a dab of glue to it.

 Attach it to the larger button. You can center it or have it off to the side.

 Put some glue on the top of that same button and attach your feather.

 Put a little bit of glue onto your rhinestone (or a small button)

 Attach the rhinestone to the top. Making sure to cover the end of the feather.

And here is your finished, one of a kind, totally unique little ring!

Hoops!

So about a year ago I decided I would try hooping as a way to get more in shape and in all honesty just to have a little fun. I got all my supplies and made myself and 2 of my kids hoops. Last year was full of so much craziness I never really got into hooping. But recently i got a fire under my butt and decided I am going to dedicate 30 minutes a day to my hoop. Well after a couple day I realized that my hoop I made last year was just too big for me. it wasn't spinning as fast as i wanted. So this  week I made myself two new hoops. And I LOVE them! This is turning into a bit of an obsession for me hehe. I haven't started learning any tricks, right now I am working on the basics and trying to just get a feel for the movements and gain some muscle memory. It is my hope that over the next year I will improve and begin to nail a trick one at a time. Anyway I wanted to share my two new hoops.

 This one is so fun. The white under layer is actually glow in the dark tape. I love it!

 This one is my zebra hoop. The zebra print is actually ribbon, rather then tape. Just something different. I think it turned out pretty cute!

Sprinkle Filled Resin Pendants

Supplies:
2 part resin, I use Envirotex Lite (Got it at Michaels)
A container to mix the resin in (it will not be usable for anything else afterwards)
Something to stir with, I like popcicle sticks because they are cheap.
Sprinkles
Molds (I use silicon ice cube trays)
Glue such as e600
A necklace bail
a necklace of sorts
An empty box
a straw

Most importantly a warm work area!

First mix your resin according to the directions. Mine takes two equal parts mixed well. I like to mix small amount at a time to be sure it doesn't set up too quickly on me.

 Don't worry about the tiny bubbles we'll get rid of them later.

Pour a small amount of resin into your mold. Just enough to cover the bottom.

 Let it sit for 5-10 minutes or so just to thicken up a bit.

 Next pour sprinkles into your mold.

This is what it looked like once the tray was filled with sprinkles 

Pour resin over the top of the sprinkles. You don't need to totally fill the mold. but you want to be sure they sprinkles are covered.

 
  Cover the mold with a box for 5-10 minutes. The box keeps the wet resin protected from dust, little fingers, etc.

Come back to your molds and check them, many times bubbles form on the surface. Take your straw and lightly blow on the surface of the resin. The bubbles should start to pop. If you have larger ones that wont pop with the straw, use a pin to pop them.

Now set the mold back under the box and leave it alone until tomorrow! Now be sure your work area is warm. If it it so cool the resin will not set clear, it will be foggy. My resin instructions recommend the temperature being between 70 and 80 degrees.

 Day 2!

We are going to first pop the resin from the molds.

 They should look something like this.

 If you have some jagged edges or some wispy edges, just take a low grit sand paper to those areas.

 Put a dab of glue onto your bail.

 Attach the bail to the back of your resin.

Once dry place the pendant onto your necklace.

There you have it! a fun and funky necklace!!