your the bomb father’s day gift via made from scratch

father’s day gift for your superhero via alphamom

father’s day notepad via martha stewart

father’s day tie box via eighteen25

Each week at my mama bootcamp, we vote on who gets to wear the purple shoelaces. It’s is sort of a vote for the MVP that week, the teammate that worked the hardest or pushed her limits. I was completely shocked and grateful to have been picked to wear the purple shoelaces this week.

You see, I’m not the most athletic or the strongest or even the fastest and I sorta have two left feet. I’m the type that’s picked last in gym class and most of the time I’m just relieved that I didn’t trip over a crack in the sidewalk and totally embarrass myself. So, when I first heard about the purple shoelaces, I knew that I’d never be picked to wear them. I’m just glad to be able to keep up with my team during a crazy plyometrics workout or whatever form of torture our instructor decides to inflict upon us.

Last Wednesday, our instructor had us doing circuit training. I’m talking flipping ginormous tires and wall sits with weights above our heads kind of circuit training. It was rough, but I knew that I survived last session relatively unscathed and I that would survive this circuit class from hell. And then our instructor informed us that we would be doing handstands. We did them last session, but my wobbly arms could barely hold up my body weight. This time around, I did it without hesitation and to my surprise I could actually hold myself up for longer than 2 seconds. What a difference 8 weeks makes. I’m stronger, not only physically but emotionally stronger too and I have my hard work (and Nutrisystem) to credit for it.

Here I am, rocking the purple laces. Me, the non-athletic, always gets picked last for gym class girl was picked first this time. The laces are a bit tattered and weathered by the inspiring women who have walked in them before me. I can’t help to feel like they make me run a little faster in them. Good thing too because Logan and I saw our first coyote on our morning run yesterday and those shoelaces got me out of there faster than I’ve ever ran in my life. I’ll be sad to relinquish my purple lace thrown tomorrow, but excited to give another mama the boost in confidence she made need.

The fine print: Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me for free, as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. Want to join me on the Nutrisystem program? Call 1-888-853-4689 or sign up online.

This week on See Vanessa Craft, I broke up with myself (well, myself 27lbs ago) via post-it note and share my felt rose topiary tutorial. I’m also giving away a super cute people puppet from cate & levi. Over at Chiquita Moms, I shared 20 inexpensive outdoor family activities. While you’re there, check out how Tricia plans on recreating a book for her kiddos. Over at Parent Society, I posted my chocolate worm dirt pudding recipe – perfect for summer parties!

Let’s get this party started. Here are the top 3 most clicked on projects from last week’s linky party (feel free to grab a “featured on” button if these belong to you):

criss cross dress tutorial via melly sews

fit into your skinny jeans via my life and kids

 baby binky bunny via hubby made me

“Do Something Crafty” rules:

• Crafty blog post links only please. Links to shops, giveaways and products will be deleted.
• Link directly to your crafty post, not just your blog.
• Link up recipes, organization tips, interior decorating, tutorials…anything crafty!
• Visit at least 1 blog linked up in the party.
• Please link to See Vanessa Craft somewhere on your post or grab a “Do Something Crafty Friday” button, you can find it in the sidebar.

Logan is at the pretend play age and it has been so much fun to watch. He cooks me “food” in his play kitchen and will have me slurp whatever concoction he thinks up. He pretends he’s a frog and has me hopping around the living room with him. We also love to play with puppets together. He puts them on his hand and transforms into that character. I’m blown away by his creativity and love having toys around our house that foster it. Those kind of toys never get old.

Logan was recently sent a cute pirate puppet (pirates are allowed to be called cute, right?) to add to his collection by one of my favorite toy companies, cate & levi. I’m sure you’ve heard me rave about them before because their products are just so unique and well made. The best part is that they craft their toys out of all natural and reclaimed materials, upcycling at its best and every single item is one of a kind.

Before Logan was born, I had collected a few of cate & levi’s animal hand puppets for him. It’s a little bittersweet that he’s now old enough to play with them and maybe someday his kids will get to play with them, but let’s not go there yet! My point is that these toys are the type of well made heirloom toys that get passed down from generation to generation. Aside from adorable puppets, cate & levi also makes change purses, pillow pals, stuffed animals and more. I just absolutely adore this company!

Buy It: Visit cate & levi to purchase these products. A purchase is not necessary to enter the giveaway.

Win It: cate & levi is giving away a people puppet to 1 winner. This giveaway is open to US & Canadian residents. This is a Rafflecopter giveaway, you must open up the post for the widget to appear. The first entry is mandatory, the rest are extra ways to enter. Remember to leave an email address and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I shared this project over at The CSI Project a few weeks ago, during their flower challenge week. These felt rose topiaries were a labor of love, but worth the effort. Several 3rd degree hot glue gun burns later and they made for a perfect centerpiece for my dessert table at the spring craft party I hosted. After the party, I moved them and the bunny to my entryway table. They’d look great on a fireplace mantel too or even in a little girls room.

Materials
2 Foam Topiary Forms (found in the floral section of your local craft store)
2 Terracotta Pots (sized to fit the topiary forms)
2 Yards of Felt
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun
Instant Green Moss Cloth (found in the floral section of your local craft store)
2 Decorative Butterflies

Instructions

Step 1: Cut out several 4 inch circles out of 2 yard of felt. You can cut more circles as you go so you don’t waste felt.

Step 2: To make a felt flower, cut a spiral in the circles as shown below. Starting from the outside of the spiral, start wrapping the felt to form a flower. When you reach the end, add a glob of hot glue to the end piece and glue it to the backside of the flower. Continue making flowers until you have enough to cover 2 topiary forms.

Step 3: Hot glue flowers onto the topiary forms, making sure that there are no gaps in between the flowers.

Step 4: Cut a piece of moss, sized to fit inside the terracotta pot. It is easiest to use a rotary cutter with moss sheets, but scissors will work too. Place the topiary form into the terracotta pot. Cut a slit to the middle of the moss circle and hot glue in place inside the pot, covering the topiary form.

Step 5: Hot glue a decorative butterfly to the side of the pot.

Step 6: Throw a craft party to show off your felt rose topiaries.

This week is going well, I’m just continuing to take one day at a time…one meal at a time…one exercise at a time. Part of my homework for my mama bootcamp was to write a breakup letter to something. It could be a bad habit, like caffeine, or just something that you want to get away from. I decided to write a breakup letter to myself…27lbs ago. Even though I’m a totally different person now, physically and emotionally, that insecure person still creeps back into my thoughts. I sometimes still see her reflection when looking at myself in the mirror and don’t recognize how much I’ve really changed over the past year. So, I’m breaking up with the negative parts of that person, Sex and the City post-it style.

 The fine print: Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me for free, as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. Want to join me on the Nutrisystem program? Call 1-888-853-4689 or sign up online.

This week on See Vanessa Craft, I realized that it’s okay not to be perfect and Crystal of A Pumpkin And A Princess stopped by to share her summer bucket list tutorial. Over at Chiquita Moms, I shared 6 DIY outdoor activities for kids (including a fun project for dino enthusiasts). While you’re there, check out Natalie’s frozen Chiquita banana and nutella bites recipe (can you believe I still haven’t tried nutella? I need to remedy that soon) and Angie’s list of 15 items every mom should have in her purse.

Let’s get this party started. Here are the top 3 most clicked on projects from last week’s linky party (feel free to grab a “featured on” button if these belong to you):

cloth headband via blissful sewing

dr. seuss party favors via shy by design

mother’s day cards via crafting in the rain

“Do Something Crafty” rules:

• Crafty blog post links only please. Links to shops, giveaways and products will be deleted.
• Link directly to your crafty post, not just your blog.
• Link up recipes, organization tips, interior decorating, tutorials…anything crafty!
• Visit at least 1 blog linked up in the party.
• Please link to See Vanessa Craft somewhere on your post or grab a “Do Something Crafty Friday” button, you can find it in the sidebar.

I’m excited to welcome one of my favorite bloggers, Crystal of A Pumpkin And A Princess to my blog today. She’s going to show us how to make a super cute summer bucket list – for under 10 bucks. I love the idea of a summer bucket list and I might just have to come up with one of my own (after I complete my 30 before 30 list). I’ll turn my blog over to Crystal now…

Hi See Vanessa Craft readers, I’m Crystal from A Pumpkin and a Princess. I’m excited to be here as part of Vanessa’s Crafting on a Dime series. Every year my kids look forward to planning out Summer activities to keep us busy. We usually make a bucket list and hang it on the wall or refrigerator to mark off as we complete each activity. This year I thought it would be fun to have an activity on a piece of paper for the kids to pick from.

I found the bucket in Target’s dollar section a few months ago but you can check Hobby Lobby or Michaels to see if they have them as well. It was pretty plain so I embellished it with a washi tape border on the top and bottom. You can find rolls of wash tape for $1-5 at Walmart, Target, and Michaels.

I then typed up a page full of activities, printed them out, and glued them onto colorful cardstock. The strips are 4.5 inches long. I used a corner rounder but this step is unnecessary if you don’t have one on hand. Using my Silhouette I cut out vinyl lettering for the front of the bucket. If you don’t have a Silhouette, you can use stickers. Last year before I had a Silhouette I made a potty treats jar using stickers and they held up really well. To embellish it even more I added a 97 cent flower I found at Walmart to the lid. Then I was done!

My kids are already excited about the activities. I plan to add more to the bucket before Summer officially begins. What’s great about the Summer bucket list is that it gives the kids something to look forward to and on those days when all you hear is “mom, I’m bored” you’ll have an activity ready for them to pick out.

Thanks for letting me share my inexpensive Summer bucket list with you. I hope you can stop by A Pumpkin and a Princess sometime and say hi. On my blog you’ll find a variety of tutorials and recipes like:

Thanks for having me, Vanessa!

I apologize for not blogging yesterday, I needed a rare night off for myself. Well, myself and Mr. Christian Grey. I finally caved and started reading Shades of Grey…holy moly! That’s all I’ll say about that on my G-rated blog.

Back to Buff Mama Monday…er, Tuesday. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been struggling with my weight loss journey lately. I’m feeling frustrating that the scale isn’t moving like I want it to. Just 5 more pounds until I hit my initial 30 pound weight loss goal, but it still feels so far away. The last 10 pounds have been the most difficult to lose. I maintained this week…after gaining 3 pounds last week. Ugh.

Workouts actually went well this past week. I tried zumba for the first time and I may not have had a clue in the world what I was doing, but it was a blast and such a great workout! I stuck to my Nutrisystem meal plan all week…and then the weekend happened. We’re usually out and about all weekend, which means eating on the go. I can still eat out, I just need to make better choices. Feed myself what I would feed Logan. Weekends are the most challenging, and then I spend my Mondays feeling guilty and trying to get back on track.

Bottom line, I’m not perfect and that’s okay. I’m going to have bad days and good days, it’s part of my journey. I’m not looking for a quick fix, which most the time is unhealthy anyway. I’m in this for the long haul. I’m learning that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, that I can indulge in a piece of cake for a special occasion and not feel guilty about it (causing me to then eat the entire cake). I’ll get to 30 pounds, maybe not overnight but it will happen…imperfectly.

The fine print: Nutrisystem is providing their food and program to me for free, as part of the Nutrisystem Nation Blogger Program. These opinions expressed are my own opinions and are NOT influenced by monetary compensation. This review is 100% my opinion and has not been edited or reviewed by anyone. Want to join me on the Nutrisystem program? Call 1-888-853-4689 or sign up online.

This week on See Vanessa Craft, I made a vow to finish what I started. I also shared my ladybug fuzzy yarn wreath tutorial. Christa of c.jane create was here yesterday showing us how to embellish a plain t-shirt into something cute. Over at Chiquita Moms, I shared a few mason jar picnic recipes. While you’re there, check out Natalie’s sun safety tips (especially if you live in the middle of the desert like I do).

Let’s get this party started. Here are the top 3 most clicked on projects from last week’s linky party (feel free to grab a “featured on” button if these belong to you):

teacher appreciation gift idea via bean bug crafts

sealant pendant via apsolutely crafts!

framed bulletin board tutorial via hot flash’n craft’n

“Do Something Crafty” rules:

• Crafty blog post links only please. Links to shops, giveaways and products will be deleted.
• Link directly to your crafty post, not just your blog.
• Link up recipes, organization tips, interior decorating, tutorials…anything crafty!
• Visit at least 1 blog linked up in the party.
• Please link to See Vanessa Craft somewhere on your post or grab a “Do Something Crafty Friday” button, you can find it in the sidebar.