Flower bouquet tank

Last year I came across this tutorial for a flower embellished tank from Ruffles and Stuff.  This immediately went into my "to do" file. I found a white tank at Target in the clearance section last year and I started making flowers. I  made a couple by the links in the tutorial and made some different. Given that I started this last year, I don't remember which ones I used. The rolled rosette is fairly common. I made a flower similar to this one for my shirt but used a button for  the center. I finally finished it today.

Instead of using strips of jersey knit for my flower stems,  I  used white ribbon. Here's a tip for you, learned the hard way by me- ribbon will not stretch with the knit and will ruffle. Oh well, I like the results anyway and I'm going to keep it since I don't have any jersey knit in white that matches.

Here's a close up of the flowers:

And another of the shirt:

Here's another altered tank you might like.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to these parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Creative Bloggers Party and Hop* Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Masterpiece Monday* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday* Tea Rose Home*Share the Wealth* Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*BFF Open House at The Answer is Chocolate* Creation Corner* Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal*4Rs *PityParty *Make it For Less Mondays*DIY Diva Thursdays

Happy Memorial Day

Photo credit, buggolo

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you are spending time with those you love or doing the things you love, and remembering those you gave you the freedom to do it!

Patriotic 3D star wreath

I made a cute little wreath in red, white, and blue for Memorial Day (and Fourth of July). I was inspired by and followed the tutorial here from Little Birdie Secrets.  I used papers from my scrapbook paper stash and a wreath form that I cut from a cardboard box.

I have a Slice but used an "old school" plastic scrabooking star template to cut my stars so that I could stack multiple sheets of paper and cut more than one star at a time. I cut 12 large stars from patterned paper and about 16 from red. I adhered the red ones first as a background so the cardboard would not show. I glued everything with good ol' Elmer's multipurpose glue. (I may be one of the few crafters that doesn't really like glue guns.) The Elmer's worked great. Did I mention that I won a prize pack from them (here)? It came in this week and I got a lot of loot! Thanks!

I used buttons, rhinestones, and pearls from my stash to embellish the stars. On half of them, I also added Prima flowers. I love using my stash for more than scrapbooking. I glued my stars too close together and needed to fill some holes at the bottom so I added two smaller stars.

I added a bow and some star garland purchased from the Dollar Tree. I got 2 bows for $1 and only used a minimal amount of the garland, so total spent for this is less than $1.50!

Happy Memorial Day! Thanks for stopping by.

I'll be linking here:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out*  My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia *Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday* Tea Rose Home*Share the Wealth* Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*BFF Open House at The Answer is Chocolate* Creation Corner* Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

Get them to eat broccoli ...AND fish

Today I'm sharing a dish that combines two things a lot of kids and grown ups don't like to eat- broccoli and fish.

My hubby doesn't care much for baked fish or broccoli, but he will eat this dish. I think it's the cheese and French's onions that attracts him.

Broccoli, Rice and Fish Bake



Ingredients


1-1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

3 cups frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 can (2.8 ounces) french-fried onions, divided

1 pound tilapia fillets
Dash paprika

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

•In a large saucepan, combine the broth, rice, Italian seasoning and

garlic powder, bring to a boil. Transfer to a greased 11-in. x 7-in.

baking dish. Cover and bake at 375° for 10 minutes. Add the

broccoli, Parmesan cheese and half of the onions. Top with fish

fillets; sprinkle with paprika.



•Cover and bake 20-25 minutes longer or until the fish flakes easily

with a fork. Uncover; sprinkle with cheddar cheese and remaining

onions. Return to the oven for 3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Yield: 4 servings.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

I link to these parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Share the Wealth*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday* Tea Rose Home*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*BFF Open House at The Answer is Chocolate* Creation Corner* Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

Hey followers!

Image source http://www.pccrafter.com/

Shouting out to my followers again! Hello and thanks. I love meeting new friends online and discovering new ideas. I try and make an effort to visit each of you from time to time but often discover that there is no blog link in your Google Friend connect profile. That's okay. Maybe you don't have a blog.  Or may you do and just didn't realize you could post a link. I don't think I've had a link in my own, until now. I was curious about this issue so I did a little "googling". I found this site with a tutorial on how to add your web links to your profile.   No need for me to rewrite - just go to the link and check it out.

And add your link to your profile. It will give you more blog exposure and I can visit you!

Butterflies and daisies

Butterflies and daisies are two of my favorite things. My grandmother used to grow gerbera daisies. After she passed away, my mom transplanted them at her house. I love all of their vivid bright summer colors. Maybe I should grow some of my own.... Okay, that's another story for another day. Let's just say I didn't inherit that green thumb.

Since I don't have any of my own growing, I made myself an arrangement with some artificial ones from Michaels. (Purchased during a 60% off sale.) My inspiration came from a project at Joann's but my arrangement is so far from the original, it's not worth showing for comparison. I've totally made this my own project.

I started with this container that's been in my stash for a few years (an after Christmas clearance purchase).

I pulled out some old papers from my scrapbook stash. I mean old, like some of the first ones purchased in 2003. (Please tell me I'm not the only one with stuff that old.) I cut the paper to fit my container. Note: I used a 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper and it did not meet on the sides, so I pieced the sides- meaning,  I cut some strips for the sides and lapped the front and back over those. I got out the Mod Podge and adhered my paper to the tin. I didn't cut it perfectly to fit at the top and bottom. I went back with an exacto knife and trimmed those edges. That takes the measuring and guessing out of it.  I coated the whole thing with a couple of coats of Mod Podge.

On the front side I added a vintage butterfly image that I got from This Blessed Nest. I opened the image in Adobe Photoshop Elements and rotated. I resized it to 4x6 inches and printed it out. I mounted it on a piece of cardstock and trimmed a decorative edge.  Then I applied this to the tin with Mod Podge also.

Here's the front and back of my tin:

I placed some floral foam in the bottom of the tin and added my flowers and fillers.  I used three grass bushes, an orchid bush, and a gerbera daisy bush. I added some metal butterflies picks, also purchased at Michaels. (You would think they paid me to advertise as much as I mention them, but nope, that's  just the only local place to shop here, other than Wal-mart and I avoid that place like the plague.)

My arrangement proudly sits on my guest bath countertop, along with my other butterfly decor. The whole bathroom is decorated in a butterfly theme and was done on the cheap too.  Would you like to see more of the bathroom? Maybe I'll post that one day.

I'll be linking up

 

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday* Tea Rose Home*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*BFF Open House at The Answer is Chocolate* Creation Corner* Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

Punched flower pomander decor balls

I've been trying to get a new post up for four days now. Earlier in the week, I thought I'd schedule ahead, but that didn't happen. And then this morning I sat down to link up to some parties and intended to get the post done, but I got caught up in following link after link to some great blogs and lovely eye candy and my time ran out. Does this ever happen to you? Is blogland full of too much stuff?

Anyway, here is a project I've been working on for a while and recently finished. I've admired all the flower punch pomanders out there like these at WhipperBerry and decided to make my own to fill a glass bowl on my bathroom counter.  I don't have the same punch as the one in the tutorial I linked, but I like mine just the same. I did two layers and folded up the petals on the top layer. I also used a second punch for my flower centers. 

This can be a little time consuming, but worth the effort. I also decided to do some with silk hydrangea blooms from some bunches I purchased at Michael's on sale. These go a little faster.

Here they are in the bowl on the counter.

I love the little splash of color these add. They tie in well with the other colors in my guest bath.

What have you been working on lately?

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to these great parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday* Tea Rose Home*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

It arrived!

This is what I came home to today!

I won this at Flamingo Toes! Whoo hoo! Of course I don't  have time to play with it right now, but maybe by the weekend I can start figuring this out. Please feel free to leave me tips and links to Silhouette projects. I'm sure I've got a lot to learn.

Happy Monday!

Sharing a cookie

and a recipe.

First, let me say Happy National Chocolate Chip Day! Yep, it sure is. Today.
Crazy4challenges is celebrating by issuing a challenge to have some image related to chocolate on your card. I played along and used this cute image from Mo's Digital Pencil. I designed another gift card holder using the sketch from Sketch Saturday.

The image is colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS. Papers are from Lime Ricky by Basic Grey and Bazzill cardstock.

So, here's my favorite way to use chocolate chips.

Cowboy Cookies (this includes directions for making the mix in a jar as a gift. Recipe from All Recipes.)

Ingredients


1 1/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1.Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart jar in the order given. Press each layer firmly in place before adding the next layer.


2.Include a card with the following instructions: Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. 2. In a medium bowl, mix together 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine, 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Stir in the entire contents of the jar. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing. Shape into walnut sized balls. Place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. 3. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes in the preheated oven. Transfer from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

What's your favorite chocolate chip recipe?

You may find this linked at the following parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

Shell and glass bead necklace

Here is a necklace that I made for my mother as her mother's day gift. I didn't really have a completed project or directions to go by for this. I browsed some bead magazines and picked up a few ideas, like the beads inside the shell circles, but mostly I came up with my own design and went with it.

Here's a list of materials and a how to. Most of the materials came from Michael's. This is simply stringing and the only skill you need is crimping. Make sure you get the right size crimp bead for your stringing wire. Beadalon tells you on their packaging which to use. HERE is a tutorial on how to close a crimp bead.

Rose shell carved pendant

Beadalon Satin Silver stringing wire

2 crimp beads

2 split rings

1 lobster clasp

8 6mm gemstone beads

2 25mm Round lentil beads

8 Jet shell loops

6 round jet cat's eye

6 each 6, 8, and 10 mm faceted beads

16 silver bicone spacers

10 glass sead beads

10 white Nebula glass shiny 8x10mm beads

I didn't write down the finished length of my necklace, but I believe it is around 24 inches.

Start with 30-32 inches of beading wire. This will give you plenty to play with. Center your pendant. On one side string a white glass Nebula, a silver bicone spacer, a grey cat's eye, a shell circle- only string through one hole, then though a gemstone, then through the second hole of the circle so the gemstone is inside the circle. Continue with 1 white glass Nebula, a silver bicone spacer, a 10mm faceted bead, 8mm faceted, and 6 mm faceted, a shell circle with gemstone bead inside as before, another shell circle with gemstone inside, a silver bicone spacer, white glass Nebula, silver bicone spacer, cat's eye, 1 lentil, spacer, white glass Nebula, spacer, 10 mm faceted, 8 mm faceted, 6 mm faceted, a shell circle with gemstone inside, silver spacer, white glass Nebula, spacer, cat's eye, 10 mm faceted, 8 mm faceted, 6 mm faceted, 5 glass sead beads. Attach wire to split ring with crimp bead, pulling beads as close to ring as possible. Repeat sequence on the other side. Attach lobster clasp to a split ring. Attach wire to this split ring with a crimp bead, making sure pendant is still centered. Run extra wire through a few of the beads on each end and cut any extra wire.

I was pretty pleased with this and almost didn't give it away!  Did you make something for your Mother for Mother's Day? I'd love to hear about it or see it. Leave me a link to it!

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be linking up to these great parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Running With Glitter*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal

Sour cream pound cake -lower fat and sugar

I'm not bragging or anything, but I made that beautiful cake! I made it on Saturday for our Mother's Day meal on Sunday. I used the following recipe from Cooks.com.

1 box Duncan Hines butter recipe cake mix

1c. Plain flour

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. milk

3 eggs

8 oz. sour cream

1 stick butter

Here are the ingredients I used to cut the fat and sugar:

1 box Pilsbury lower sugar yellow cake mix

1 c. plain flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 c. skim milk

3 eggs

8 oz. fat free sour cream

1 stick butter

Mix dry ingredients. Beat eggs, sugar, and butter. Add sour cream. Alternating flour mixture and milk, add to first mixture, beating slowly. Bake in well greased, floured tube pan at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until golden brown. ( I had to bake for almost an hour and 1/2. )

Try it. It's yummy! I'll be linking up to some of these parties:

Think Pink Sundays*Keep It Simple Sunday*Under the Table and Dreaming* Sundae Scoop*Craftomaniac Monday*Making the World Cuter*Just Something I Whipped Up at TGC* Motivate Me Monday*Inspire Me Monday*Market Yourself Mondays at Sumo’s Sweet Stuff* Pink Hippo Party*More The Merrier Monday*Twenty Minute Tuesdays*Take a Look Tuesday* Handmade Tuesdays* Tuesday Time Out* Gettin Krafy with It* Tip Junkie*Get Your Craft On*Whatever Goes Wednesday*Hooking Up with HOH* Wow Us Wednesday*Blue Cricket Design*All Things Inspired*Whassup Wednesday*Fireflies and Jellybeans* Someswhat Simple Strut Your Stuff*It’s Sew Stinkin Cute Craft Thursday*Thrifty Thursday*Transformation Thursday* Thrilling Thursday*A Crafty Soiree*Tidy Mom*Simply Sweet Home*Simply Designing*Chic on a Shoestring Flaunt It Friday*Fingerprints on the Fridge*Tatertots and Jello*Funky Junk’s Saturday Night Special*Be Different Act Normal