Wave Your Flag

Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!

I hope you can find something in this day to make your heart happy.  Whether it be spending it with a special person, doing something crafty or eating chocolate (my plan- chocolate covered strawberries!), Enjoy!

I made this flag to celebrate Valentine's Day at our home.  It is completely Pinterest inspired, but my hands made it (Right?!?).  It was fun and quick- a couple hours total.

http://www.thevspotblog.com/2013/02/a-cute-diy-garden-flag-just-in-time-for.html

Grumpy model on the way to the preschool Valentine party

Happy model photo bombing my shot.

Proud of my curves!

I used a zig-zag stitch on the side, straight stitch on the top.

The two obstacles I faced while working on this project were my bobbin being difficult and the burlap type.  My bobbin was getting stuck over and over again.  I'm not sure what was happening, but it definitely increased my time spent on this project.  I plan on looking into this and I'm thinking the machine needs a good ol' fashioned cleaning and oiling up.

As far as the burlap goes, I am always trying to save money with my crafting projects.   A roll of burlap at Michaels was about $10, but a roll of burlap with laminated backing was only about $3.  I couldn't iron the burlap with the backing on it, so I had to wait for it to flatten under a pile of books before I worked with it due to the fact it was rolling up.  Once that was fixed, it was fine to work with. Lesson learned!

I may create another flag soon with a baseball theme, since it's almost that time again!

Happy 4th of July!

It's the 4th of July- one of my favorite holidays. Not only is it a fun holiday to celebrate as a proud American, it's also the holiday that my husband and I celebrate our birthdays around. With my day on the 2nd and his on the 4th, it's guaranteed to be a few days of celebration, fun and of course, food!

As part of my birthday, I had some uninterrupted time in my craft room. What a gift! I made a quick decoration for my front door, a birthday card for my husband and started a layout. I'm still playing with the layout, so I'll post it later. In it, I'm sharing the story of how we share our birthday celebration every year. It's something we've done since we met and is a special tradition for us. It's worth documenting.

My front door decor

Birthday card...Wish I had more of this paper. I love it!

The final bit of red, white and blue craftiness comes from my kids. We colored rice one morning and then the next day, made a simple centerpiece for our patio table. I enjoyed making the rice when I taught preschool and knew my kids would love it.

Materials: Rice, Rubbing alcohol and food coloring

For each cup of rice, I use about 2-3 T of Rubbing alcohol and 8-10 drops of food coloring. It's really up to you how intense you want the color to be. Mix all the material together.

(Sticking out your tongue, optional)

Spread it out on wax paper to dry. It doesn't take long.

After it was dry, my boys layered the colors in jars and vases. It was super easy for even my 3-year-old. Throw in some flags or leave it plain.

We had a lot of leftover rice, so I plan on using it for collaging and using it for sensory experience. I am planning a card making party with a patriotic theme in a couple of weeks, so I will probably leave this out on the patio. It's fun to adapt to other holidays, such as Christmas, too.

Hope you are enjoying the holiday and that it's full of fireworks and memories!