Caring for My Chaos

This is what all my spoons, spatulas, tongs, etc were housed in. The utensils were falling out or my kids would just shove them on top because they were filled to the brim. I had decided I wanted to find a bigger thing to house it all in, but wanted it to match my kitchen that I had just finished redecorating in June. I had painted it pink and off white and covered the outlet covers and switch covers like this-- I covered them with shelf paper that I had found at the Dollar Tree. Well, I got an idea this afternoon to find a big coffee can and cover it to match the covers. Well, I had no big coffee can, which was surprising since I drink A LOT of coffee. I had only little ones. But then, I found this-- I had bought a big bucket of cookie cutters a while ago but the top broke to it and the bucket was just sitting there. So I put all the cutters in a big Ziploc bag, which was better to keep the dust off anyways, cleaned out the bucket and cut the shelf paper big enough to wrap aro...

I came up with this pattern late last year because my middle daughter has a thing for scarves and requested one. I had bought some of the really chunky yarn from JoAnn's that I couldn't really work anything else with. I can't remember the name of the yarn right off the top of my head. I totally just made this up and it's not really precise but I also made one for my niece and she didn't take it off for a month, so it's a good pattern! =) Instructions Make a chain of stitches as long as you need it. The way I figured it out was I kept chaining until when I wrapped it once around my daughter's head, it still hung down past her waist. Remember, with an infinity scarf, you want the option to be able to loop it around your head, so the longer the better. When you reach the length you need, skip 2 ch, (dc in next ch, ch 1, dc in next ch), repeat from ( to ) all the way across, turn. Repeat for 2nd and 3rd rows. I only needed to do 3 rows with how thick this ...

Alas, my little ones are all too big to dye Easter eggs this year. Bubby has decided he's too old. ::Sniff sniff::

This is a stock photo of what I made. These kind of wreaths can cost you a lot of money and I make mine every year for a couple bucks. This is the one from a couple years ago that I had a pic of that had been in storage so it's a little squished. I take them apart and do something different every year. This year, with moving, I just haven't had time. I didn't even get to do my grape vine wreath one! These are very easy and you can get most of what you need from the dollar store or use what you have around the house!  Here's what you will need- 1 wire hanger Duct tape 1 pack of garland, whatever color you want (The more garland, the fluffier your wreath will be!) 1 bow Whatever little decorations you want to put around the wreath Pack of wire ornament hooks Now, first thing you're going to do is undo the wire hanger. This can be tricky. I have found that using a pair of my husband's pliers work the best. When you have it taken apart, you then nee...

I just finished this and hung it up outside, in time for Memorial Day. This one will carry through July 4 though. The materials cost me a whopping 3$. It's a very simple process. I get a spool of ribbon and 1-2 bunches of flowers from my trusty Dollar Tree. The grapevine wreath I found at Goodwill for about 2$. When I got it, there were awful wooden decorations on it, I just took those off. I start by wrapping the ribbon around the entire wreath. Most thicker ribbons I can just tuck into the wreath and they are secure, but this one was a sheer ribbon and I had to use Christmas decoration hooks. I just poked one end of the ribbon with the hook, straightened the hook out, and then wound the hook around a piece of the wreath. I did that at both ends so that the ribbon is secure. Then Hubby lent me his wire cutters so that I can snip the flowers off the bunches. You don't want the ends too long or they will hang out the back. Then when you hang it up and it rests against the...

This whole wreath cost me 5$!

I figured with the yarn giveaway, I would go over some crochet basics!

I do! I just received a box full of wonderful yarns to play with! So, get ready for a LOT of crochet projects!

Man, I wish I had this recipe years ago!

A woven quilt! Over on Moda Bake Shop there is a tutorial on how to make a woven jelly roll rug, but you could do this for just a quilt and it wouldn't come apart over time! And it's so cute! I know 2 quilts I've made over the years, one for Hubby and one for Izzie, have both started pulling away at seams, which is sad. Hubby's is so bad that we put it away before it's too horrible. This is such a neat idea! It's going into the "It's On The List" file!

I still haven't gotten to this project but maybe this winter! I love wedding ring quilts. But I am nowhere near experienced enough quilting to do one. But  I am pretty good with a crochet hook. But during the summer, it's just too hot to crochet and I don't get itchy to do it until the weather cools down. But I found this project free from Red Heart and it's a full size wedding ring quilt that's crocheted! It looks really complicated but after reading through the pattern, I think I can handle it. If you're a crocheter, go here wedding-ring-quilt and download the free pattern! It's a PDF file. I will show pics later this fall when I start it! Let me know in the comments what crafty projects you're up to! I would love to see them!

Over on Huppie Mama she has a tutorial on making potholders. Who doesn't need more of these? I know I always am looking for mine since I keep putting them in the wrong place! I have made some in the past and it is quite simple. She shows you step by step how to do it. It's all straight line sewing which is the easiest!

I have never heard of doing this to a window! In our living room, our front door has a half window at the top of it which gets a LOT of afternoon light. I have tried to think of something that would help block at least some of that light. On Annabel Vita there is a post about using cornstarch to attach lace to the window. This is completely temporary, you can remove it with warm water. But you can use fabric too! I love this idea! Go check out her really easy to follow tutorial!

I really love this wreath! I don't have any sand dollars around here but I do have seashells since every time we go to the beach, I come home with bags upon bags of the ones we collect! I think a bunch of seashells would be just as cute! I found this one over on The Tall Chick Blog and the instructions are really easy. She just uses a wreath form, yarn, twine, sand dollars and ribbon. Oh and of course hot glue. I think I may have to go buy a wreath form this afternoon!!

Isn't this just adorable? It's a man's shirt repurposed into an apron. I was just telling Doodle and Izzie that for Mother's Day they could get me a cute apron. I am forever getting filthy when I cook. Either something splatters, I get flour everywhere, you name it. I am not a neat cook. I saw this on Pinterest, of course, and found a really in depth tutorial on Grow and Make . She really explains it in layman's terms to where I actually understood it! Hubby is leaving again Wednesday so this will be my project during this trip!

I made a few hats for the girls over the years and there used to be a website that had all these old patterns for crochet hats that I would use but I guess it's been taken down because I can't find it. But this pattern from Red Heart is very close to one of them that I had made. I love the matching scarf! The weather here has been turning much colder which is making me want to get my crochet stuff out!

On Craft Stew , there is a list of 36 different sewing projects. These are for all over the house and are mostly simple sewing. Go check out the list and see what you could  make for your home!

On Homemade Serenity, there's a tutorial on how to make a repurposed egg carton wreath! You use cardboard egg cartons and turn them into flowers to put around the wreath. I thought this was just too cute. And you can include the munchkins in the creating!

I have no idea who to give credit to for this. I found it here on Pinterest but when I clicked on it to take me to the website, it just takes me to this picture. But isn't this adorable? And with minimal sewing. You could make this in any number of different fabrics to match your moods and outfits!

I have 3 Rubbermaid totes full of "special" stuff from all my kids. I have always wanted to  make one of these for each kid with their coming home outfit, the little hat that they give them, their bracelet and the little footprint birth certificate that the hospital gives you in it. I have yet to do it. Izzie is 18. But, isn't it just precious? Maybe this year I'll finally get around to doing it. It's just a matter of buying the shadow boxes. And digging through the totes to find said items. Then getting lost in all the other stuff that I find and tearing up looking at all of it. Okay, so maybe I see why I haven't done this yet! I'm a softie, what can I say??