Button Flower Garden

 

Did you get a chance to link up your creative projects and recipes to our What I Made Wednesday linky party???

If not…..click here,

you have until Friday & you might get the chance to get featured (who doesn’t want a little love sent their way?)

 

 

Button Flower Garden

 

This idea came to me one day….possibly because I literally cannot wait for spring to come, or because it has been snowing on and off this week {{I know, it is not supposed to snow in April right??}}

and I just want a little bit of Spring in my home!

 

 

Supplies:

• Frame (mine is an old frame I wasn’t using at the moment)
• Scrap fabric
• Buttons
• Ribbon (1/4”, 5/8” and 7/8”)
• Hot glue

To start off, simply cut a piece of thin cardboard to fit in your frame.  Then, take your fabric and cover your cardboard, hot gluing it onto the back.  It does not have to be perfect on the back (no one will ever see that part), but make sure the front side is smooth and tight against the cardboard.

Start laying out your buttons into a flower pattern.  (I prefer to lay everything out before I glue.)

Once you have all your buttons arranged how you would like them, you need to start cutting your ribbon for the stems.  I used 1/4” ribbon for this and simply laid the ribbon on the fabric and cut to my desired length.

Carefully slide the buttons up so you have room to glue your stems.  Heat seal the ends of the ribbon.  Hot glue the stems on the fabric using a small strip of glue down the middle of the stem.  (Make sure your ribbon goes to the very end of the bottom of the fabric so you will not see the ends when it is in your picture frame.) 

To start gluing your buttons on, start with the center (green buttons) and glue them on the ends of the ribbon.  Then glue the other buttons around the center button so you don’t see the end of the ribbon.

Now it is time to cut the leafs.  I used a variety of colors of green ribbon in 5/8” and 7/8” and it turned out adorable.  The greens do not have to match.

Start with a 3-4 inch section of ribbon and free-hand cut a leaf shape.

Heat seal all sides of the leaf {{they actually curl slightly when you heat seal them, giving them a slight 3-D appearance}}

Put a small amount of hot glue at the base of the leaf on both sides, lift up the edge of the ribbon where you want the leaf to be and stick the leaf in so that you can’t see the base of the leaf anymore.

Place your fabric covered cardboard in the frame and secure the backing on the frame (if there is one).

TaaDaa….

You now have a Button Flower Garden!!

 

 

What I Made Wednesday #5

I Love Wednesday….bring on the SWEET ideas!!!

Here are the projects that caught our eye from last week…..

Come Together Kids came up with this SUPER cute bubble refill station along with some super easy homemade bubble recipes!  I am always SUPER disappointed by bubbles that I buy in the stores….so I am definitely going to try the homemade bubbles & the bubble refill station!

 

Isn’t this ADORABLE????  I only have a few days left to make this “Hoppy Easter” sign…..I can’t wait!  Living Craftily Ever After did such a good job on this Easter decoration!!!  Love Love Love It!!!

{{What I Made Wednesday}}:

• Must be made by you.
• Link up to your specific post - not your main blog.          (Please no Etsy shops or giveaways)
• Please post our button or link back to our blog so more people can join in the fun.
• Visit some of the other participants and leave them a comment to show your LOVE!
• We hope you LOVE our blog...if you do, we would LOVE it if you become a follower!

{{What I Made Wednesday}} will be open Wednesday – Friday. Next Wednesday we will feature some of our favorites from this week's party as well as host a new {{What I Made Wednesday}}!

 

 
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Butterfly Garland

My little girl turns two this weekend!!  Time goes by WAY too fast!  Since I’m a working mom, I spent the past weekend getting a head start on the decorations.  {{I figured since it could easily double as spring décor that it wasn’t bad to put it up early! =) }}  It was a super simple project that cost me absolutely nothing since I already had all of the materials…love that!

Start off by finding  a bunch of coordinating papers to fit your color scheme.

Since my garland would be seen from both sides, I decided to glue two sheets of cardstock together (patterns on the outside).  After this dries, you’re ready for your next step.  {{Towards the beginning of my project I began to think that it would have been much easier to buy double sided paper but I stuck firm to using what I had!}}

Using my Sure Cuts A Lot 2 program and my Cricut, I cut out butterflies and flowers using my glued double sided scrapbook paper.  I made sure that my images had  punches on them so that my Cricut would cut the holes and I wouldn’t have to punch them later…..definitely saved a lot of time!  Also, if you’re using a Cricut to cut heavy paper, you’ll need to change your pressure to max and your blade depth to 5 or 6.  {{Also, if you’re interested in creating this project and have Sure Cuts A Lot 2, email me and I would  be thrilled to email you my files.}}

After all of my flowers and butterflies were cut out, I strung them using twine.  The twine worked really well because my cut outs didn’t slide at all!  If you look closely you can see where I tied each section.  I alternated butterflies and flowers with 6 on each strand of twine.  Then, I began to tie the stands of 6 together.  I decided to leave my tied pieces long because I liked the look.

I made A LOT of garland…it is strung from my kitchen all the way into my living room.  I will definitely be saving this project…perhaps it will be my spring mantle decoration next year! =)

Menu Monday 4/18/11

Monday~ Smothered Burritos

Tuesday~ Lasagna, garlic bread, green beans

Wednesday~ Eat Out

Thursday~ Soup, quesadilla

Friday~ Stuffed Pizza Rolls, Salad

Saturday~ Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs

Sunday~ Ham, baked beans, potato salad, salad

 

{{Servin’ It Up Saturday}} Grilled Pizza

We are quickly approaching 100 followers…we’re SO excited!!!  Stay tuned for a giveaway when we hit 100!!!

This is one of those recipes that everyone needs in their recipe file.  It’s simple to make and is a hit with both adults and kids.  With summer quickly approaching, I have my mind on fresh produce and outdoor grilling…maybe I’m just wishful thinking since it’s only April and we had  a serious snow storm last night! =)  Anyway, back to the recipe…

Start by making your pizza dough.  I found a super easy recipe here.  Also, turn your grill to medium-low and let it start heating up.

Once you have your dough ready, flour your workspace. 

Divide your dough into equal sized balls.

Using your knuckles, spread the dough out into a circle shape.  They don’t have to be perfectly round, that’s why I opted for the knuckle method instead of  a rolling pin.  {{This has been the first time my hubby has let me take a picture of him doing something for my blog…he’s caving! =) }}

Your end product will look similar…remember, it doesn’t need to look perfect because you’re going to cover it up with pizza toppings!

Just on the grill:

Ready to be taken off of the grill:

On your preheated grill, place the dough on the bottom rack.  Cook the pizza dough on medium-low heat for about 3-5 minutes per side.  Watch it carefully because it will burn quickly.

After your pizza crust is ready, it’s time for the toppings.

I like to let everyone pick their own toppings, so I put each option in its own bowl.  Here are the toppings we had available:

• pepperoni
• mozzarella cheese
• artichoke hearts
• fresh basil
• tomatoes
• mushrooms
• hamburger

Other options I sometimes use:

• hamburger
• sausage
• olives
• jalapenos

Spread the sauce around the middle of the pizza leaving a ring around the outside for your crust.  Then, let the kiddos (or yourself) put on their desired toppings.

Can you tell my daughter likes cheese?! =)  They had lots of fun putting on their own toppings and my little guy even put some “lettuce” (basil) on his pizza.  I’m so proud he is getting over his fear of green vegetables!!!

Put the pizza back on the grill over low heat.  Watch the pizza carefully as it can burn quickly.  As soon as the cheese is melted, they are ready to serve! {Can you tell we’re WAY past due for a new grill!?!?  Yikes!}

And there you have it….delicious pizza that is a little crispy on the edges and chewy on the inside.  Enjoy!

While we’re on the topic of pizza, what are your favorite pizza toppings?  Also, if you make grilled pizza, I would love to see your pictures!

Fabulous Finds Friday

Woooohooooo…..it is Friday again!  Not only do I like Friday, because it is almost the weekend, but also because I have the chance to highlight some sweet projects that my fellow bloggers out there have created!  I am always amazed at the creativity everyone has!!!

Are you like me and have about 100 baby food jars sitting around….because you might come up with something to do with them?  Inspire Me Crafts made these adorable candles out of baby food jars!  All I can say is….ingenious!!!

I am all about making learning fun!  When I stumbled upon these ABC bean bags by Jen’s Stamp World, I knew it was a instant add-on to my “Crafts I Want To Create” list.  These are so cute & the colors are adorable!!!!

I am in SPRING mood lately (even though it snowed at our house last night) and loved these literally the second I saw them!  Curds and Whey is so creative and came up with these spring-tastic {{yes, I made this word up}} fridge magnets!

Nail Art {{Using Vinyl}}

When I stumbled across this idea from Craft O Maniac, I knew I had to try it!  I was a little skeptical of using vinyl on your nails, and thought that it would only last a day or two!!  Boy was I wrong….I had it on for 2 weeks before I decided to change the color of my nail polish and do it again!   The possibilities are endless and it looks oh so cute!!!  I was so excited the day I tried it…..I might have gone a little crazy wild…..I did my toe nails, my sister-in-law’s toe nails, and of course my daughter’s toe nails!  I did them all different & they all turned out ADORABLE!!!

 

The process was SO easy…..

• Put a small piece of vinyl on your cricut mat (you get to choose the color)
• Choose the image and make it small enough that it will fit on your nail.  Cut out the image with your cricut (you can either use the Sure Cuts A lot 2 software or a cricut cartridge).

• Peel the images off the backing of the vinyl with tweezers and use a sewing pin to pick out the itty bitty pieces if needed.
• Apply to your painted nails, and press firmly on.
• Apply a top coat on top of the paint and vinyl.

Are your feet ready for flip flops???