My Pretties

An Angry Birds Birthday Party

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:01:00 +0000

Hello there My Pretties! I haven't abandoned you, I promise! I have been so busy this year. I started a new business in January that has taken off like wild fire and it has consumed lots of my time. If you are a photographer in need of vinyl backdrops and faux floors, visit me here. Sorry for the shameless plug!

On top of all that going on, I began planning my little man's 8th birthday party. He wanted an Angry Birds theme so I happily obliged. I thought it would be easy, right up until all you people on Pinterest raised the bar on birthday parties. Cake and ice cream just won't do. Oh, no it won't! I put myself through 3 weeks of torture getting ready for this shindig and let me tell you. I don't care if we have to go to Disney next year for his birthday, we aren't having a party. In fact. he'll be lucky if he even gets a cake. I'm sure the memories will fade and I'll get wrapped up in party planning in 2013 just like I did last year, but for now, the pain staking memories of making fondant angry birds and smoothing butter cream icing just hurts too much. We won't even mention the Angry Birds sugar cookies that didn't make it to the party.

At least I had enough sense to have the party outside of our home this year. If you are a long time follower, you might remember last year, we gutted a room to the studs in our house 2 weeks before his party and the paint was still drying when our guests began to arrive.

So, to set the stage, we had the party in the fellowship hall of a friend's church. We sent out these invites that I made in Photoshop. (A Pinterest Idea. I can't take the credit for the concept.)

I made this banner to go behind the cake table out of scrapbook paper and ribbon.

I made a few props for an Angry Birds photo booth.

We had lots of goodies to get everyone's tummy full before the full scale angry birds game we would soon play.

I outsourced the sausage balls and pigs in a blanket to my mom. (Thanks Nana!) If you haven't tried the sausage ball recipe that adds a block of cream cheese, you are missing out. They are delish!

I was planning to order Chick-fil-A chicken minis too but seeing as I was already about, well, lets just say way over budget on this party, I decided to order chicken fingers from Zaxby's and get Sister Schubert's rolls from Sam's and DIY the minis. The crowd said they were better than Chick-fil-A. (Thanks Candi for cutting up what seemed like 2,000 chicken fingers!)

My sweet friend Emma and I cut up the fruit and made fruit kabobs.

The risers were upside down baskets courtesy of my bathroom closet. I am resourceful if I am anything!

I made chocolate dipped pretzel sticks because they were ~~cheap~~ fun . (Thanks Pinterst for that idea too.)

I made chocolate dipped Oreos too. If you want to try these, let me give you a little secret. Take one of the cookies off the Oreo and spread some of your candy melts on the cream, then place your stick in and put the top back on. Let me tell you how many I goofed up before I figured that little tidbit out. Or, no, I won't. Google is your friend people!

And what started it all, I bough these little paper straws on Etsy. I put them in color coordinating Hawaiian Punch bottles for the kids. Cute, yes. Weird feeling, double yes. My jury is still out on whether or not I like paper straws. Maybe I got bad ones or something but they felt gooey to me after a few minutes.

And the piece de resistance... The cake.

Pinterest, why do you do this to me? After seeing all the super cute Angry birds cakes, just a plain old cake wasn't going to cut it. I decided to tackle a 3 tier, covered in butter cream, decorated with little fondant Angry Birds cake. What was I thinking? Obviously, I was not! I made the fondant decorations a few days in advance thank goodness. The day before the party I started icing the cakes and I was still icing 20 minutes before the party. Butter cream will not get smooth for me. I think I watched every you tube video on smoothing butter cream and tried everything from a hot spatula to paper towel rubbing and it wasn't as smooth as I wanted it. Luckily I had enough decoration to cover the hot mess up! I think it turned out cute and it was perfect from across the room or for anyone who put their contacts in backwards that day.

My big man! I can't believe he is 8 years old already!

Happy Birthday Bud! I hope your wishes come true!

And just because I was skeptical that my cake would turn out, we had enough cupcakes for everyone on standby.

After everyone ate, we went to the church gym to play a game of Angry Birds. I collected boxes for weeks and the kids had a blast knocking them down with kick balls.

When everyone was ready to go, they got one of these candy bags with tags I made in Photoshop.

I am kicking myself because there is so much I didn't get photos of. Like the whole cake table. It was so cute. And the Skittle tubes I made that had the cutest little Angry birds tags I made on them. And the food labels. Well, actually, they didn't even make it to the tables. I printed 1 of each and in the end, my table design had double plating's of each food item and I couldn't put them out not having two. They were so cute. Bummer!

The party was great anyway. Everyone had a ton of fun. I think I slept for 15 hours after the party but it was ~~sort of~~ all worth it in the end.

Thanks for reading about my little birthday party adventure! I promise I am going to come back and post more soon. I have made lots of super cute things to share with you. I just haven't found enough hours in the day yet to get them all blogged about.

Are you a cake and ice cream party kind of mama or do you go all out? I'd love to hear your stories.

Until next time...

Sunday Silly

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:33:00 +0000

I must have one of these. Hey, it's your phone... Zac Morris is calling! I'm embarrassed to admit I wanted to be Kelly Kapowski when I grew up.

What's Cooking on Thursdays | Super Easy

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:55:00 +0000

Those of you who are low-carbing it for the New Year, go ahead and skip over this one. Believe me, it's not for you! This week I'm featuring 3 recipes all wrapped around bread, mostly crescent rolls. These super easy recipes are great for that short notice dinner company. They look really complicated and all Martha Stewart but they are simple to make. Yes, please!

Chicken Roll Ups
There are no words. These look so incredibly delicious!

Spaghetti Bake
I'll definitely be trying this one soon. So much prettier than a plate of spaghetti. This recipe calls for a bread dough, but I think I will try it with crescent rolls instead. I don't think my culinary skills are ready for bread rising yet! :)

Chicken Taco Ring
I love ring/braid recipes. The Pampered Chef introduced me to these years ago and I love making them. The sky is really the limit on what you can do with crescent rolls and a ring/braid. Ham & Swiss with Dijon mustard, add some chips and it's a great lunch or dinner. Taco meat and the fixings with Mexican Rice and you have a very filling and inexpensive dinner. Pepperoni, mozzarella and some pizza sauce- It's cheaper than Pizza night.

Have you tried any of these recipes? What do you put in your crescent rolls?

Sunday Silly

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 10:24:00 +0000

There are no words. I hope you are having a great weekend... or at least better than this little girl!

Featured Friday | The Crafty Cupboard

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

I found The Crafty Cupboard on Pinterest a few weeks ago. Melanie has a boat load of easy to follow tutorials for simple sewing projects on her blog. Here are a few that caught my eye.

The Business Card Holder

I so need one of these. I can't tell you how many business cards I have had to throw away because they either got dirty or wrinkled in my purse. This would be so cute too to put a gift card in as a gift as well.

The Pacifier Clip

What a great baby shower gift! I am always torn between buying cute and buying practical when it comes to baby gifts. This is the best of both worlds. Plus it's inexpensive enough for those people who you would like to give a useful gift without breaking the bank.

You can find a whole list of Melanie's tutorials here. I hope you will stop by and check them out.

What's Cooking on Thursdays | Crock Pot Love

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:27:00 +0000

I had to feature the Crock Pot for the first installment of What's Cookin' on Thursday. One of our resolutions for the New Year was to eat out less to A. Eat healthier and B. Save moola so my sweet hubs bought me a shiny new stainless crock pot for Christmas. What is easier than throwing a few things in the Crock Pot in the morning and dinner being ready faster than you can run through the drive through?

Since I'm not all Crock Pot savvy, I called my BFF, Pinny for help. You might know her as Pinterest. Oh. Em. Gee. What have I been missing for so long? Seriously, so many recipes that look absolutely delish and take just a few minutes to prepare. And even better than that, there is very little clean-up. SOLD!

Here are a few recipes that are on my must try soon list.

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken

I love buffalo chicken! Whip this up and throw it on a Hawaiian King Roll with a dollop of Ranch dressing and call it dinner.

Crock Pot Lasagna

This looks ah-mazing! So much better than Stouffer's and Lord knows I'm not going to make it from scratch in the oven!

Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup

Baked potato soup and a grilled cheese. You can't beat it with a stick!

Crock Pot Pot Roast

I'm dying to try this recipe. Nobody makes pot roast better than my granny and I'm praying that this is as good as hers. It looks like an exact match so I have my fingers crossed!

I'm really hoping that my crock pot will help me stick to my resolution this year. I don't think it could get any easier than this so hopefully I will. Do you have a good crock pot recipe to share?

If you need more Crock Pot ideas, there is a facebook page dedicated to cooking with your Crock Pot. You can check it out here.

Sunday Silly

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:17:00 +0000

Sommecards.com

Maybe I think this is funny because it's true or maybe it's because the guys glasses look older than the van parked behind him. The world may never know!

Rocketfish iPad2 Accessory Review

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:15:00 +0000

Several years ago I joined the Wolf at Best Buy group to do research for them. To be honest, I signed up because I thought it would be an easy couple hundred bucks. I had no idea how much I would learn and be influenced by such a huge company. To get a glimpse behind the scenes at how much thought goes into every decision made was intriguing but to be a woman whose opinions were valued by part of a massive corporation was a phenomenal experience. This relationship led me to become a member of the Wolf at Best Buy Blogging Network. From time to time I will be testing products for them and providing you with my honest opinions and review. For my first assignment, I am reviewing the Rocketfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad2 and the Rocketfish Pad-Pivot. Let’s get started with the Keyboard Capsule.

Right out of the box the 2.2 pound Rockfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad 2 is constructed of a durable hard plastic shell with a sturdy aluminum hinge.

The Rockfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad 2 features an internal rechargeable battery that is easily charged with your computer using the included USB charger. You will also easily find access to you iPad’s ear phone and charging ports.

Let's open the capsule and see what is inside. As you open the capsule, the aluminum hinge feels sturdy providing balance and stability to the unit. The capsule boasts a full size keyboard with large, well spaced keys to truly make your iPad look and feel like a laptop. The keyboard also features 20 quick function "hot" keys for an even easier navigation. Now let's get everything set up and take this Rocketfish for a test drive.

Rocketfish recommends fully charging the battery before your first use. Not a bad idea to begin but in the future you can charge the unit while in use if need be. Once your battery is charged, you place the upper shell into the tray and simply nestle your iPad in the upper compartment where it is safely and securely held in place with the upper latch. I did have to remove the costly Otterbox from the iPad to install into the capsule; however, the snug design of the capsule felt equally, or safer than that of the previous Otterbox. When you do not have a need for the keyboard you can also remove the upper shell from the tray and fully extend the hinge to rest on the bottom on the keyboard. This provides the perfect angle for streaming movies, gaming or reading. Connecting the capsule to the iPad was relatively simple with the Dual Bluetooth Connectivity. You simply pair the capsule with the iPad by pressing the Bluetooth Function and the pairing keys on the keyboard, powering your iPad then navigating to your general settings and selecting Bluetooth on your iPad. The iPad will automatically find your device to pair and by selecting iPad2 Keyboard Capsule; an on screen message will appear with a passkey for you to enter on your keyboard. Once paired, you should not have to repeat these steps again in the future. If you notice, I mentioned the capsule has Dual Bluetooth Connectivity so you can also pair your iPhone or other Bluetooth enabled device if you have a need for that as well. Setup and installation of the capsule to your iPad is literally a 60 second job tops. As you can see, Rocketfish has made setup a snap.

So, how easy is it to actually use? I had a bit of an adjustment with the part touch screen, part laptop functions of the capsule. While testing this product, I would notice myself trying to use the on keyboard mouse that I'm used to having with a laptop but isn't there with the keyboard capsule. That aside, the 82-key keyboard is well designed with large, well spaced keys in all the right places. With the 20 hot keys, you can quickly and easily access things like your iPad's home screen, the search function, and the iPod controls like track selection and volume control. Having a full size keyboard paired with the iPad makes emailing, blogging and social networking extremely easy and far less time consuming than with the iPad alone. Another benefit of the capsule is the hands free placement of the iPad within the capsule. This makes Facetiming a far better webcam experience as well. No more nauseating Blair Witchesque video production when the kids want to Facetime grandparents far away. The Rocketfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad 2 is extremely user friendly and easily provides a laptop like experience for its users.

Overall, I think the Rocketfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad 2 is a quality product at an affordable price. With a MSRP of $99.00 at Best Buy, you get the durability and protection of a hard shell case as well as a fully functioning keyboard for a laptop experience. The only drawback to the capsule I have found is that you cannot use your iPad’s camera while in the capsule so it’s an on again off again production with the Otterbox. That is a small price to pay for the convenience of the keyboard and the security of your iPad while on the go. The Rocketfish Keyboard Capsule for iPad 2 is a great investment for anyone who uses their iPad for more than a game of Angry Birds.

Let’s move on to the Rocketfish Go Anywhere PadPivot Stand

The Rocketfish Go Anywhere PadPivot Stand is also a great little gadget to have in your arsenal of iPad accessories. The PadPivot is a fairly simple product made for hands free use of your tablet, e-reader or even your cell phone. It is constructed of a virtually indestructible hard plastic material. The bottom is ribbed with a rubbery type finish allowing a safe and steady hold onto whatever surface you have it placed. The top assembly is screwed into the ball bearing base that allows the surface to tilt, pivot and rotate 360 degrees to suit any viewing angle. The pad comes with a removable dust cover to ensure a long life of your sticky pad and also an adjustable leg strap.

To use the PadPivot, you simply remove the dust cover and place your iPad, e-reader or phone centered onto the sticky pad. Unfortunately, like with the Capsule, you cannot use any type of leather or silicone case for your device in conjunction with the PadPivot. I will admit that I was a bit hesitant to let go of the device fearful that it wouldn’t hold and I would have a relatively expensive iPad crash to the floor, but it held tightly with no issue.

My favorite feature of the PadPivot is the included adjustable leg strap. The leg strap is just an elastic band with hooks to connect to the PadPivot. You can attach the leg strap and sit in bed or with your feet propped on the coffee table for comfortable hands free use without the fear of your device falling. Another great feature of the PadPivot is that you can angle the pad all the way forward and place your iPad or reader in the grooves of the base for display. You can use the PadPivot in both portrait and landscape mode this way. I used the PadPivot when preparing Thanksgiving dinner this year. I simply found my recipe online using my iPad, propped the iPad into the PadPivot and had it there hands free to refer to as needed. You could use the PadPivot this way to watch a movie or show a photo slideshow at a birthday party.

When you are finished using the PadPivot, you simply gently pull from one corner until the device is removed and replace the dust cover to ensure a long life of your sticky pad. The sticky pad leaves absolutely no sticky residue behind on your device. I have put on and removed the iPad several dozen times and the sticky pad shows no sign of losing its sticky factor anytime soon so I think it will be a product I use for a very long time.

The Rocketfish PadPivot Go Anywhere Stand is a fairly simple device that does its job and does it well. Its hands free capabilities make reading, gaming and movie watching far more enjoyable and much more convenient than using your iPad or e-reader alone. I hope that Rocketfish will one day make replacement sticky pads for the PadPivot because naturally this one won’t last forever. With its minimal cost however, it will be worth it to me to purchase a new one when that time comes. In the meantime, I will enjoy being hands free.

I hope you will check out Best Buy for these and all of your tablet accessory needs.

Disclaimer: I have received the reviewed product from Best Buy for free.

Learning to Ruffle

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:30:00 +0000

I would love to do a great sewing tutorial on my latest sewing project but I think my backspace key would break before I could get through it. One day I'll actually know what I'm doing enough to share a tutorial but it ain't today! This post isn't even really about the bag though. It's about the ruffles. I have been "ruffling" by sewing a basting stitch with my machine and pulling one of the threads to make the ruffle. It works I guess, but this is so much better. I found a ruffling foot at the thrift store in a bag of odds and ends for $0.79. Score! It just so happens that I was going to a purse class hosted by a friend and the purse had ruffles, it was all ruffles in fact, so it was a great time to try out my new foot. What is a ruffling foot you ask? It's this contraption. It looks scary, to me anyway. Once you figure out your machine settings, it works like a charm.

With this foot, you can easily get great ruffles like this

to make a bag like this.

If you want to try a ruffle purse pattern, I found a few on my Pinterst Sew Many Idea's board like this one at Mommy By Day. Crafter by Night.

Do you use a ruffling foot or sew a basting stitch and pull your threads? Check out the link parties where I am sharing this sewing tip this week.

Project Closet Organizing

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:00:00 +0000

One of the many downsides to living in an older home is closet space. Apparently nobody thought about walk in closets until sometime in the 80's. We have one tiny little 42" closet in our master bedroom that really isn't big enough for diddly squat! Since the only thing it really had going for it was that it is 8' tall (thank God for that being a 1950's standard!) we decided that we were going to have to rethink our storage options and go high. You see, the closet only had 1 bar for hanging and that left the bottom constantly filled with other random stuff that was quite disorganized.

So the hubs and I take off to Lowe's to get some wire shelving to create a shelf and 2 hanging bars. We were going to get this done. But by the time we got home, got homework done, and the little man ready for bed, it was about 10:00 and the hubs says we should wait until tomorrow to do it. I went to bed sulking. Poo! I wanted my closet done, like yesterday. The next morning I got up raring to go and get er done. Once I unloaded the closet, I realized how yuck it really was. I mean, it's been cram packed full for 8 years. Here starts the embarrassing photos. Look at the stuff that was on the top shelf... my scrapbooks, high school yearbooks, a Lite Brite, a stuffed animal and the quilt my Mamaw made for me. (Random stuff, I know!)

Can you see why this took forever? I obviously can't relocate the scrapbooks without thumbing through them. Isn't my little guy the cutest thing?

The one bar that we had was so unorganized. Mine and the hubs clothes all mixed together, random hangers going in all directions. Yuck! How did I let it get like this?

I pulled the old shelving (and I use that term loosely) down with my bare hands. It didn't even require a claw hammer. That's how rickety it was! And I was left with one fugly closet. I decided to give it a quick coat of paint. Look at the difference. Paint- I love you! Just painting it made it so much brighter which we needed since there isn't a light in there either. The left side obviously already had a coat of paint.

It was time to install the wire shelving. I'm going to save you the play by play because it contains quite a bit of colorful language that your ears might not like to hear. My studs, my drill, my level and my hands just weren't working well together. But I wasn't giving up. I mean, I have a sea of clothes and junk that are piled on my bed that came outta there and I can't sleep until it's done.

Now I'm ready to refill the closet and there is no way all these random hangers are going back in.

So I headed to Dollar General to get 10 packs of new hangers for $10.

After sorting through our clothes and finding 3 big bags to donate, I'm left with a super clean, organized closet. Mine on the left. Hubs on the right. I thought about arranging by color, but then I remembered that I'm not THAT organized so it's just arranged by short and long sleeve. Baby steps people! Baby steps!

Do you keep your closets neat or do they end up a mess like mine was? Check out my link parties tab to see where I am sharing this week! :)

Mama's Microwave Peanut Birttle

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:56:00 +0000

Y'all, I'm not one for breaking out the Christmas music and candy canes before Thanksgiving, but let me tell you, my mama's Peanut Brittle... mmmmhmmmm! I just couldn't wait. I loooooove my mom's brittle and I didn't even know she cooked it in the microwave. For real, the flipping microwave y'all.

All I did was mention peanut brittle and this big honkin' cookbook descended from the heavens. Ok, so it was only her cookbook shelf, but whatev.

This book is busting at the seams of all of my mom's top recipes. Hey sis, I got dibs on this thing, mkay? Here is the recipe. I hope it isn't some top secret 411 since I'm sharing it with all of you!

All you do is mix all the ingredients minus the baking soda and the vanilla. Put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Stir. 3 more minutes. Stir. 3 more minutes. I know the recipe says 12-14 minutes but it only took 9 in our microwave. Thankfully she and I have the same microwave so I don't have to burn the first batch to know just how long to cook it.

After your give or take 9 minutes are up, you mix in the baking soda and vanilla and spread it out on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

Then you ~~sit it outside on the porch in the cold weather to~~ let it cool and break it into small pieces.

I'm serious! You if you like brittle, you have to tr this recipe! What is your favorite holiday treat? I'm pretty sure mine is Peanut Brittle with Peanut Butter Fudge as a close second... or is it Chocolate Fudge? Or Haystacks? Check out the link parties where I'm sharing this great recipe this week!

Mesh Wreath Explosion

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:14:00 +0000

Hey guys! So glad to "see" you again. Life has been a world wind of stuff lately. Has it been for you too? Being a child photographer, especially nearing the holidays, makes me a bit crazy, and stressed and sleep deprived and stressed. Did I mention that already? Then I did something that I never thought would happen. I saw a mesh wreath at a local craft fair. I thought, surely I can make that cheaper than I can buy it, so I passed on it that day. I came home, scoured Pinterest, youtube, and a few other sites. Speaking of Pinterst, Oh. Em. Gee! I'm so addicted. True story, the other day I had about an hour to spare so I was going to browse my boards and find something to whip up quickly. Um, yeah, 2 hours later, I was still pinning. I'm pretty sure I need therapy. Follow me on Pinterest here

Before I knew it, I had 2 really cool wreaths cheaper than I could have bought one. So, I show my mom, and she loves it and wants one. Then my grandmother, then my sister, then a friend on facebook, so I posted photos of all I had made and whew. I got orders for more than I ever expected. So I had to find a better resource for materials, and find more time to make the wreaths. I did just that and landed a pretty stellar envelope of cash marked "Christmas Shopping" so that's awesomesauce! You want to see them, right? Here are a few of my favorites... Right now I have this on my door. Happy Halloween!

Come Tuesday, I'm going to be rocking the Alabama wreath hoping that my boys pull out a win against top ranked LSU next week! Roll Tide!

Then I guess I'll change that one out after Thanksgiving to this Christmas wreath!

Then in January, my door will be sporting this funky and fun snowflake wreath!

I think I'm pretty much set until Easter. Hmmm... Maybe a pastel with glitter eggs mixed in? I have some time to think about it I guess. And of course I have still made time for thrifting too! I have picked up a few new pieces of furniture I'm going to show you soon and tons of randomness to transform into cuteness. I also made something that my sweet hubs told me not to publish on my blog because he thinks I need to sell the idea to Pottery Barn or something. He sure knows how to flatter a girl. I'm going to show you anyway pretty soon. You'll have to come back to see what it is! Are you gearing up for the holidays yet? Check out my link parties tab where I'm sharing this week! :)

Cupcake Prop/Party Decoration

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:17:00 +0000

I have so many clients who book me for birthday photo sessions and I wanted to make something to use as a prop that was birthday without screaming birthday.

So we went to Lowe's and bought a piece of 1/2" plywood that would soon become 4 feet of sweet cupcake goodness.

I freehanded the shape of a cupcake ~~4,691,264 times~~ on my piece of plywood.

After I got it just how I wanted it, I used my jigsaw to cut the shape ~~mostly~~ on the lines.

Since I wanted to get the most bang for my buck, I painted one side pink, blue, green and red and the other side is brown, blue and red for the boys.

Whadaya think? Cute huh?

Maybe this ~~little~~ big prop will make me millions! Everyone has loved it so far.

Check out the link parties where I am sharing this week for more inspiration!

Satin Headband Project

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:38:00 +0000

Oh. Em. Gee. I didn't think I was ever going to have the time to blog again. Things have been so busy. My portrait business is exploding, 2nd grade homework is whippin' us every night and I decided to have a yard sale in the middle of all this. I got rid of sooooo much stuff and after the initial anxiety wore off, it felt sooooooo good! I still have a ton because some things I just couldn't part with but it is progress nonetheless! I made a pretty nice chuck o' cash too so that was super sweet!

Anyway, I have been crafting some here and there but just haven't had the time to upload, edit, write, post, yadda yadda yadda. It's raining here in the South and everyone in my house is still in jammies being lazy bums so I thought I would write a quick tutorial on a project I made recently to use at my newborn photo shoots.

It's super simple but so cute!

First you need a synthetic fiber. I used satin. DO NOT use natural fibers or you may or may not have a small fire on your hands. I wouldn't know.

So you will start by cutting the satin in about 5-7 misshapen circles. Don't worry about them being symmetrical or even. It doesn't matter.

Then take a lighter and lightly run the fabric edges through the flame. This takes a bit of trial and error, but just try it out lightly and if you want more curl, run it through again. You don't want to burn it, you just want to heat it if that make sense.

It should look something like this.

Once you have all of your petals the way you like them, you will want to attach them all together.

I used Fabri-Fix but you could also use hot glue or even the ole needle and thread option.

Just glue them down one on top of the other with the curl facing upward. While you are waiting on that to dry, cut 2 matching circles from a coordinating felt. Turn your flower over and glue one of the felt pieces to the back in the center.

Next spread a good amount of glue onto the felt. Then take your elastic (I used 1/8" elastic in a 13" length for a newborn) and put both ends in the glue. Make sure you don't have any twists in your elastic. Then put the second felt circle on the top to finish off your piece. I finished mine off with a tiny little pearl button that I cut the shank off of.

This was the result! I was so excited to have a newborn coming into the studio that I could try it out on. Isn't she precious? Check out more photos by liking my Facebook Fan Page

This project took less than 5 minutes from start to finish. Seriously, no skill or talent involved here. I love me some Etsy where you can buy things like this for $10.00-$20.00 but more than that I love saving money! This project only cost me about $1.00. Are you going to try it out?

Check out the link parties tab where I am sharing this week!

Come visit me at FF&J tomorrow!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:58:00 +0000

Hey guys! I've been so busy getting ready for my little guy to head back to school on Monday. I haven't had a ton of time to get my craft on, but I have a few little projects to share with you on Monday when I have 8 blissful hours of free time. In the meantime, check out the Christmas in July (now August) series at Fireflies and Jellybeans. I'm sharing a project today that you will seriously love. It's multi-purpose and can be used all year long. You will have to head over there to check it out. See you guys on Monday.

Craft Studio in the making

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:46:00 +0000

Sometime ~~long, long ago~~ in January, when the fear of 40 people coming to our house to celebrate little man's 7th birthday set in, I decided to gut ~~a junk room~~ an unused room in our house to the studs and rebuild it.

I had this thought oh, about 12 days before the party. Lovely! I knew that the hubs and I could get it done with the help of my mom, and sister and brother though so we got to work. We busted our butts trying to get it ready in time. And we did. We made it with about 9 minutes to spare. But we made it and that is all that counts.

Then after the party died and everyone left, I was just so exhausted that the room sat...and sat...and sat... and sat... and accumulated everything that didn't have a place in the rest of our home. Then one day I looked up and my supposed to be craft studio was full of junk again. Someone please ~~don't~~ call Hoarders.

So, I set out on a mission to get this mess cleared out and my craft studio in operation. It's not fully functional yet, but I'm working on it.

Obviously storage is my biggest issue. I mean where do you store 13 canvases waiting to be covered or painted? Or where do you store all the random wreaths, and frames and candleholders and everything else I pick up at the Thrift Store waiting to be transformed? It's not like it fits neatly in a drawer or in a decent size Rubbermaid container. Not to mention all the millions of scrapbooking supplies and papers I have and the sewing notions and the paint and fabric... ahhhh!!!! So, I moved out everything that I could, and even put some of my Thrift Store treasures in the dining room that has been converted to my yard sale holding spot for the time being. I'm sorry. There will be no photos of THAT mess.

I started with a desk that we built that I shared here.

Functional Computer Area- Check.

Then I found a little cabinet at the Thrift Store to sit next to my computer for my Cricut. I still need to spray paint it, but it seems like every day there is a chance for afternoon showers so I keep putting it off. Luckily, 12x12 paper fits in it and the doors just barely stay closed so it houses most of my scrapbooking albums and papers. It's a little bit cramped in the corner, but it works.

Functional scrapbooking storage- Check.

Since little man hasn't needed a changing table in 5 years or so, I brought his changing table in here to store things like paint, adhesives, sewing notions and little random stuff that will fit into divided containers in the drawers. I got that canvas hanging above it from Canvas People and found that frame at a yard sale for $0.50. It works perfectly for the space.

Random craft supplies storage- Check.

So the storage situation is getting better but the walls are still pretty bare. Other than that canvas, all I have on the walls is my washer wall art that I made here. I still love it by the way. I'm rummaging around the house trying to find something to put on the wall and I find this thing.

I have no idea what it is or where it came from. That's sad isn't it? As a matter of fact, I have 2 of them. Bizarre! It looks like it could be a shelf and its a great size so I nailed in 2 sawtooth hangers on the back and hung it up to see if it was sturdy enough to actually be a shelf.

Lo and behold, it was! Yay! So I gave it a good sanding and cleaning and added 3 screws in the joint for a little more support.

Then I stained it with my favorite go-to stain.

And added 2 of these little eye hooks to suspend a dowel from to store my ribbon. More storage- 2 points for the wooden shelf thingy.

I grabbed all the ribbon I could find at the moment and hung it up. It's sturdy. It's more storage. It fills my long run of bare wall. I consider this a success!

Uh, who needs that many paint brushes? I'm not Picasso or anything!?

I love the little containers! The one that looks empty actually has bobbins and thread in it. Does it look weird looking empty? I couldn't find anything that was tall to fill it with.

Now, once I can get all ~~this mess~~ these supplies cleaned off my work table

and find a place for all these projects on my to-do list,

and a little accessorizing, I should be good to go.

It's far from complete really, but I'm off to a good start. If you are a thrift store shopper, what do you do with all your goodies? Do you have any great storage tricks to share?

Check out the link parties where I am sharing this week! You'll find tons of great ideas!

Printable Chore Chart

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:17:00 +0000

I absolutely cannot believe school starts back in less than 3 weeks. This summer has flown by and the harsh reality that grumpy 7:00 a.m. mornings and homework are right around the corner have me ~~freaking out~~ a little concerned. During the summer we have had really late nights (like midnight bedtime for a 7 year old) and lazy mornings and sometimes days. Just the thought of having to get back on the Back to School routine makes me feel a little queasy!

We need it though. The fact is that I feel like I am a horrible mom and wife sometimes. We sleep in. I let little man watch TV and play video games to his hearts content. We stay in jammies until we have to go somewhere. We eat on the couch. We stay up until the wee hours of the morning. I spend far too much time on the internet reading about everyone else's seemingly perfect homes and lives while my laundry is piling up and the dust around here is forming it's own small town. We need a change. We need order. We need structure. I think I need a bigger adjustment than he does. I'm pretty sure of it. When I wrote this post in my head, it didn't take this direction. It was supposed to be about a seven year old needing to be more responsible. Let's get back to that before I'm feeling so guilty I can't finish this post.

I made this chore chart to encourage little man to take care of his business. He loves rewards and seeing his accomplishments so I think it will work perfectly for us. I am going to have it printed and laminated so we can check off all his daily responsibilities and he will be rewarded after he completes each week assuming it it full of smiles or checks or whatever we decide to fill them with.

For the Girls

For the Boys

Maybe for the Mamas

If your favorite little person need a little motivation to get to business, click the image to enlarge, then right click and save it. I think I'm going to print one for myself too. Maybe a little smiley face will entice me to do some laundry or something--maybe!

Check out the link parties where I am sharing this week!

DIY Shutter Buddy

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:36:00 +0000

Being a child photographer, I can totally use all the help I can get to help grab attention and smiles from the 3 and under crowd. Those little shorties are sometimes tough work. No matter how many silly faces or crazy noises I make, sometimes they just don't seem to notice. So, how do I get them to look at the lens? Put a familiar face around it.

This project is so simple and inexpensive that anyone could do it. You don't even really have to have a sewing machine.

I chose to use felt for my project, but you could use any type of fabric. The felt is cheap, a heavy weight to help keep shape and easy to work with so it was the best choice for me.

You will need a long piece of red felt. I think my piece was about 18"x5". Then you need to cut 4 circles out of white felt for the eyes, 2 oblong orange pieces for the nose and 2 black circles for the eyes. You will also need a thin piece of elastic.

You will make your base by folding your red piece in half sewing a tube.

Then you will turn it right side out, insert your elastic and sew it closed. Basically you are making a scrunchy so if you already have a red one on hand left from 1989, use it.

Now you need to take 2 of your white circles and either sew them together or hot glue them together. Whichever is easier for you. I sewed mine but I'm thinking that hot glue would have been easier. Do that for both eyes and the nose. Then glue your black circles to your white circles.

Now all you need is to place them on the scrunchy you just made. I would put the pieces over the seam where it is sewed closed just to cover it up. I didn't think about it at the time or I would have done that. I used hot glue to attach these pieces.

And that's it! I have a photo session with a little cutie turning 2 this afternoon so I'm going to try it out and see how it works.

And the handy iphone photo of the little guy in action!

I hope you are having a great week so far!

Check out the link parties where I am sharing this week!

Summer Fun at DIY Crafts

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 20:31:00 +0000

We have been in the house all week and today we just had to get out. I think we were ~~going insane~~ getting a touch of cabin fever being inside so long. It's just so hot to be anywhere except somewhere with the A/C blowing to the max. So my little guy and I headed out to Do It Yourself Crafts this morning.

When you walk in, you are greeted by Mrs. Julia, the store owner and her staff who are all so friendly and helpful. They don't even fuss when your handsome little Picasso spills a little paint 10 minutes after you walk in the door.

You have walls and walls of pottery like these

and these very reasonably priced pieces to choose from. What is great about DIY Crafts is there are no hidden costs. No studio fees, no firing fees, nothing, nada. You pay what the price on the piece is.

And if you just aren't sure what to paint, they have tons of inspiration pieces like these

and these to get you going.

And for the Alabama fan (or any other SEC team for that matter!), they have designs like this to show your game day spirit! Roll Tide!

Once you decide what it is you are going to do, there is a wall of colors, brushes and stencils to choose from.

Then you get busy creating your little work of art. If you hit a road bump along the way, Julia and her staff are there to guide you and keep you going.

I saw my inspiration piece and got busy. I painted a square plate with tons of layered dots. It doesn't look that great right now because the paint looks flat and dull but once it goes through Julia's in-house kiln of magic, it will end up a glossy, bright piece that I know I am going to love.

My piece should look similar to this piece created by someone else. I used a chocolate brown as my base and then used a white, a burgandy, 2 greens and 2 blues as my layered dots.

The mini-Picasso painted a large bowl with a Super Mario Brothers theme. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm sure many bowls of cereal and ice cream will be served in it pretty soon.

They also offer things like glass crafts, tye-dying, and mosaic stone pieces.

Look at all that is going on this summer. Such a fun place to be!

This place is seriously so cool-- and I mean that literally and figuratively! If you are a local My Pretties follower and you need a way to beat the summer heat, you should visit them. They are located at 1909 Oxmoor Road in Homewood. If not, check your area and see if there is a DIY studio nearby you.

Cutie Can Coozie

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:55:00 +0000

Since I live next door to the sun and my drinks get hot in minutes, I wanted to fancy up my can coozie a little bit.

I promise you this project will be easier than saying the title to this post 5 times fast! So, grab your supplies and let's get to it.

What you will need:
A foam coozie
2 pieces of fabric cut 11.5"x4" (Double check your coozie to make sure these measurements work for you. If not, just adjust accordingly.)
A piece of felt or batting cut to the same size as your measurement above.
General sewing supplies

To begin, cut your pieces to fit your coozie. Remember to leave a little extra for your seam allowances. Once you have them cut, layer them like this. Felt or batting then fabric right side up then fabric right side down.

Line them up and pin them in the corners to help you keep it all together. Then just begin sewing around the perimeter of your rectangle.

Do you see that fancy little foot I have on my machine? It is a life saver! I seriously can't sew straight without it. I picked it up in Atlanta at a quilt show and it was the best $30 I have ever spent. It's made by Creative Feet. If you are a novice sewer like I am, check it out. See that straight seam? That wouldn't have happened in a million years with a regular foot.

Once you get to the last side, make sure to leave a few inches open for turning.

But before you turn it, clip your corners so they turn nicely.

Then just sew up you opening and sew a seam down the two ends to close it. Try to keep your top and bottom lined up. I tried once, it was off so I picked it out, tried again and it was still off a little bit, so I'm going with it.

That's it. I told you it was easy!

Framing with negative space

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 11:01:00 +0000

I'm trying to purge all those things that I hang on to thinking "I'll use that one day." or "I'll find something to do with that." I'm seriously a bit hesitant to go to the door when someone unexpectedly knocks thinking it's going to be Hoarders coming to throw all my stuff away. Well, do you remember our bathroom reno last year that I showed you here, well, I've been hanging on to all the bead board scraps thinking surely there was something I could do with them. Today, one 24"x24" scrap found it's final destination. That's progress, right? I watered down a few drops of brown acrylic paint and brushed it on and then wiped it back off. It gave it the great aged look that I wanted. Then I glued a wooden square to it in the center to give what will become a photo frame a little depth. This is the point that I realize that my project might work out and I started taking photos to explain.

So now, I'm ready to attach my frame. I picked up this acrylic frame at the thrift store for $.25.

I centered the frame with a little loc-tite super glue. I love all the negative space. After I got my fingers unstuck from the back of the beadboard (I have no idea how that happened) I printed off a photo of my little guy and stuck it in the frame. Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?

This thing is huge! It takes up a ton of empty space. I think I may trim out the back with 1x2's to chunk it up a little bit and hang it on the wall. That's a project for another day though.

Right now, it's sitting pretty on a table.

I like big buttons and I cannot lie!

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:46:00 +0000

I'm going to let you in on my embarrassing little world for a second. After I wrote the title to this post, I continued singing Baby got Back in my head and I swear Sir Mix A Lot must live somewhere inside me. I remembered the whole dang song. Talk about a waste of brain space. Turn around, stick it out, even white boys gotta shout Baby got Back. Focus Kristy!

I'm still laughing at myself... Ok, big buttons. I picked up this bottom half to a cheese dome at the thrift store the other day. I had originally planned to make a cupcake stand with it but it was a little big.

Can you see that price tag? $0.49 and I think it was 50% off of that.

I decided to make a big button to sit on a shelf my craft studio. This was seriously a 15 minute project and 10 minutes of that was drying time.

I used my cordless drill and one of these (not really sure it's technical name)

to drill four holes in the center.

After a light sanding. I gave it a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. It is my go-to favorite! Thanks to our crazy hot days, it was dry in less than 10 minutes.

At first I wasn't going to put threads in it

but then I changed my mind. I do that a lot. I just put 2 strands of twine through the holes and tied it off in the back.

And up close

Which way do you like it better? Threads or no threads?

Check out the link parties where I am sharing this week!

Coton Colors Copy Cat

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 19:23:00 +0000

Hey there my pretty readers! I hope you are doing great! In my little world, I got a terrible toothache last week and tried so hard to tough it out. I think my mom got tired of hearing about it and being the baby that I am and avoiding making an appointment at an oral surgeon, she did it for me. I ended up having an abscessed wisdom tooth and had them removed on Wednesday. It really wasn't bad and my recovery was only painfully boring. So today I'm feeling pretty good and was determined to get my DIY in.

I have always loved the Happy Everything collection by Coton Colors Pottery. I would always oooohhh and ahhhh over them in boutiques and gift shops but the price tag would never let me take one home.

Image from Coton Colors Pottery

Isn't it cute? I really do think it is $45.00 cute but I'm loving my $0.75 version. I'll give you the how-to now!

I picked up this wreath/wall hanging thing at the thrift store for $0.75 yesterday. When I saw those scallops, I immediately remembered the Coton Colors piece and had to have it.

After scraping off the remains of what had to have once been a heart or a goose in 1987, it was ready for primer and paint.

Luckily (or not so luckily, however you want to look at it) for me, it's 98 degrees here and spray paint dries in just a sec. Very quicklu, I'm ready to start with the good stuff.

I used a spray paint can lid to lightly trace circles onto my wreath. I just kind of did them randomly letting some of them fall off the edge.

Then I picked my colors (red, pink, green, yellow and blue) and started filling in the circles. It did take 2 coats to get good, full coverage.

While that was drying I came to Photoshop and printed out the word "Welcome" in a cute, chunky font. If you aren't familiar with my redneck version of tracing, let me show you.

Print out your word/shape/whatever and make sure it fits your space.

Then flip it to the back side. Put your paper up to a glass door or window and trace the outline of the image with pretty heavy lead.

Once you have it all done, lay your piece back down and scribble all over the back of it with the pencil. Be careful not to let it move any.

Lift it up and you should have a light outline to follow. You can fill it in with pencil if all your lines didn't connect.

After I had my lines down, I just went over them with a black paint marker. I actually filled them in with paint marker, but you could use black paint if you have a steady hand.

Then I just looped a black satin ribbon around it and hung it up. I think this one is going to find it's new home on my front door for a little while!

So fun and happy-- just like me, unless you were around for the pre-wisdom tooth removal days!

Check out the link parties tab to see where I am sharing this week!

Stars and Stripes Door Hanger

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 21:20:00 +0000

Let me give this post a disclosure and tell you that if you are an American Flag purist, you probably won't like this project. I debated whether or not to even finish it when I realized that all 50 stars were not going to fit. But since I was covered in paint and my counters were already covered in burlap fuzzies, I kept going anyway.

I started with a piece of burlap folded in half straight off the bolt and cut a rectangle the length that I needed. I used the fold as my bottom.

Then I started painting on my stripes. If you decide to try this at home, make sure to let each of your colors dry before starting the next color. If you were say, the impatient type, your colors might bleed and it might get all yucky for a minute... but I'm not the impatient type so I wouldn't know anything about that. I'm just saying that it could happen!

Once my stripes were dry, I painted the corner that I left open where my stars would go.

Again, let that dry then find a handy handy star cookie cutter in your junk drawer to use as a guide for your stars.

I stamped all my stars with the cookie cutter and used a combination of these brushes and my pinky finger to get them filled in.

Once everything is dry, fold your piece over so that the painted side is face up and position your ribbon to hang it evenly spaced in the center. You could put a little stuffing in it at this point. I didn't, but I wish I had of.

I used hot glue to get my 2 halves together. I'm sure you can sew burlap but I've already got burlap fuzzie all over 1 table and dragging it to another table just didn't sound too appealing to me at the moment.

Once you get done with that, you guessed it, it's ready to hang on your door.

I hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July weekend! Please remember to keep our military and their families in your thoughts and prayers this weekend.

My Pretty Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Kristy@MyPretties) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:26:00 +0000

We just recently went to the beach on vacation and El Cheapo strikes again! We went into a few shops that had really cute handmade jewelry. Cute, yes. Worth $55.00, noooo way! Well, I saw this necklace in the gift shop at Tacky Jacks that I really loved. It was a long, colorful, chunky, beaded necklace. The price tag was was even chunkier than the beads. $55.00! Get the heck out of town! But I still kept thinking about that necklace. I had almost convinced myself that I should have just bought it. But on the way home, between getting car sick and counting mile markers, I convince the hubs that we really should stop at Joann's on the way home. I mean, it's right off the interstate and 2nd & Charles which just so happens to be the hubs favorite store is right next door. It sounded like a win-win to me. Then when we got there, there where having a huge $0.50 clearance sale on a ton of their jewelry making supplies. It was a win-win-win! Not really knowing what I was doing or what I needed, I grabbed a few things of beads, some head pins, some earring hooks and some necklace cording.

After a little spill of 4,587,462 beads, I was on my way to making really cute earrings. This little project also landed me a trip to the optometrist. I could barely see to thread my beads. I knew I needed glasses but WHOA! It's like the whole world went from a 6pt. font to a 24pt. font after I got them.

Anywho, back to my beads... I made several pair of earrings and a necklace that turned out really cute.

These could dress up a cute black dress.

This pair would be cute with just about anything.

And of course for all my die-hard Bama fans, we have to give Big Al some love.

Up close of the elephant ones.

And the necklace I made using necklace cording and some wooden beads.

I made it just by threading the beads and knotting it ever so ofter.

These would be a great last minute gift for someone and they really didn't cost much at all to make. If you haven't ever tried jewelry making, give it a try. With a few basic supplies and some pliers you can make some really neat jewelry.

Be sure to check out the link parties where I am sharing this week!