3 Steps DIY Sequin Clutch

This is for you gals out there who don't think you can do DIY. These fun and fancy clutches only involve THREE items and THREE steps. Not kidding! Ready?

 First things first, if you are near a Hobby Lobby, RUN your little bottom over there and pick yourself up one or two of these dandy linen clutches. They are ripe for the picking at only $3.99! And use their weekly 40% off an item coupon to get it for less than $2.50! If you are not near one, never fear! You can buy one online here or here. They have both colors available. I bought both the dark charcoal grey and the natural linen. Then head over to the ribbon and trims section and pick out a fun trim to embellish them in. I picked up this gold sequin trim (they usually have trim on sale for 50% off) for $2.50. Sorry the Charcoal trim I bought in the LA fabric district for my shop, so I already had that in stock. For the adhesive you can use hem tape OR glue gun. Easy as that!

In summary, your supplies:

Linen Clutch

Sequin trim (any kind of preference)

Hem tape OR Glue Gun

The Steps:

1) Measure out the trim to fit the length of the clutch(es)

2) Measure out the hem tape

3)Place hem tape between trim and clutch, and hold down your iron on the INSIDE of the clutch for a few seconds on each section of the trim to get them to stick together.

OR

3) Simply heat up your glue gun and use small amounts along the trim where you would like it placed.

*You can use one or two strips of trim on the back depending on the look you want.

....and Voila!! I told you it was simple:)

I hope you go treat yourself or a friend to this $5.00 glam clutch! And if you do, you will have to share the pics and let me know how it goes!

(styled from this previous post)

P.S. I have another fun DIY Sequin tote coming next week:)

Also, I shared some fun maxi skirt love over on Mrs. Capretta's blog if you want to come visit!

DIY: Wordless Tutorials from Pilli Pilli

Heart Toppers, Cork Bunting

I recently discovered Pilli Pilli and ate my heart out of these Wordless Tutorials...

I had to share with you! If you haven't tried a DIY before, now is the time....you can't get any simpler/cuter than these! 

I have a few more super sweet DIY's to share with you before V-day so grab your crafty hat friends:) 

P.S. I am giving away a little Valentine's Day goodie on the facebook page today:)

Advent Calendar 2010

Remember how I told you I was working on this surprise for my little family? Well on the feast of St. Nicholas I gave it to my husband to start our tradition with our kids. Each day is numbered from December 1st- 24th, counting down the days until Christmas. Each pouch will be filled with sweets, ornaments, and other surprises, along with a daily verse to help us remember we are celebrating the coming of the newborn King! 

These are so easy to make!

Supplies:

-Burlap fabric (about 1/2 yard)

- Cloth Bags (I bought mine from Hooray)

-Scalloped punch

-dowel rod or curtain rod

- rope string or cord

-Decorations (trim, mini ornaments, etc.)

Directions:

-Hand stitch the bags in rows along the burlap fabric (or just hot glue).

-Print or stamp numbers on scalloped punches

- Hole punch the tags and tie along the strings

-Add any extra decor items to personalize

- Fill with goodies and sweet messages

-Tie rope/cord along both sides of your rod and hang!

I hope this inspires you to try some of your own Christmas traditions you have been wanting to do. It made me so happy to see my little boy reach in the pocket to pull out his train ornament the first day:) Simple efforts can be returned with such simple joys!

DIY: Baby Girl's Nursery + Labor Day Supplies

So thankful to Jess from Small Change Big Changes for submitting this baby girl's room she designed on a low cost budget! Isn't it adorable?! I don't think she spent over 30$! So I had to share for you mom's to be! You can read more on how she pulled of this sweet nursery on a tight budget!

Also, for those of you preparing for the hospital.....

My friend Natalie over at The Busy Budgeting Mama has come up with the CUTEST tutorials/printables for her up and coming delivery. I am so excited to see her next little girl!

Find these and more fantastic ideas on her blog!

Lastly, SO thankful to Melanie Reyes Photography for sending me yet another adorable photo of this little IHOD model! Melanie-you have such a talent! Isn't she beautiful??

Guest Blogger DIY: Scrappy Fabric Necklace

I was so happy when Ashley from Sugar & Spice Mommy submitted this tutorial! Isn't it lovely?! 

She gives excellent instructions that will make it easy for you to do! 

Head over to her blog for the full details!

Supplies:
Fabric Scraps in your favorite patterns and colors
3/4 wood balls (found in the wood craft section of your local craft store)
Grosgrain ribbon
sewing machine
needle
covered button

Imagine the possibilities of colors and patterns you could use!

* Tape Resource from PuglyPixel

Thursday's DIY: Jewelry Hangers

***UPDATE: You can see the updated version on jewelry and storage DIYs in this post:)

I have been seeing so many wonderful ideas for hanging jewelry. I needed some space to hang my jewelry designs in my work space so I picked up a piece of wood, screws, and pulls, and got to work. 

Prime and paint your wood, Space and drill in screws, add two hangers, and your pulls of choice!

Supplies Needed:

4in. x 2 ft. plank of wood

5-7 pulls or knobs

5-7 screws

2 hangers

I love getting ideas and inspiration from other blogs, so I hope to do the same for you!

  

DIY: Create your own Rosette Hair Pins!

I am sharing with you a little DIY today from my shop! You may wonder why I am sharing the secrets of my Rosette Pins when I sell them here, but I love to promote all things handmade if someone is willing to try it:) You can find different versions of rosettes around the web...These pictures are pretty 
self-explanatory...but I will explain just in case. Start from the top left!

What you need:

pre-cut fabric petals or any fabric circles

thread & needle

bobby pins

1) Fold your first petal in quarters, stitch on the bottom side of the folds. 

2) Place the stitching side down into the center of the second petal folded in half. Fold petal around the inner petal and stitch on the sides again.

3) Repeat this step, except add the bobby pin on the inside and stitch around it.

4.) On the last stitch, pull through the center of the rosette, cut the thread, and knot. This way, the know will not show on the outside....Make two or three and wear in your hair to welcome the spring!

            

Thursday DIY: Embellish Your Wardrobe

Find the full directions from Madeline at UberChicforCheap!

Find the full directions from Academichic!

I was going to do a T-shirt embellished DIY for you today, but I came across these and had to share! They make it look so easy! Now I have some great ideas for re-vamping some plain T's!

Do you have a DIY you want to share? Let me know!

              

Thursday DIY: Happy Clothespins!

My refrigerator is a space I use for organization and inspiration. This is a super easy project that you can use many different ways. I call them "Happy Clothespins" because I used the bright and fun Happy Tape. You can also use colored masking tape found in craft stores.

What You Need:

Clothespins

Happy Tape or Colored Masking Tape

Magnet Strips (optional)

Its as easy as it looks-cover the clothespin from top to bottom in tape. Cut a sticky back magnet roll into small strips and attach to the back in two places. Stick these on your dryer or fridge! I also used clothespins to hang pictures on ribbon in my son's room. Have fun!

             

DIY: Playing Card Message Valentines

My hubby's birthday is the day after Valentine's Day, and so I am working on a series of fun handmade Valentine's for him. I am hoping he doesn't see this post..... I wanted to share one of these projects with you. I have seen some cute ideas before with playing cards-so this is my version. These are sooo easy to make and fun to receive! 

What you need: 

deck of cards (with red backs)

hole Punch

marker or stamps

wax paper

tape or glue

ribbon or raffia

cardstock

1) I used the Ace- 4 of hearts and cut out the letters L-O-V-E out of cardstock and glued them to the back of the playing cards. Flip them over.

2) Stamp or write your own message on each card. (I did my first one upside down!-oops.)

3.) Hole punch and string together your cards using ribbon or rafia.

4) Fold up and make it accordion style.

5) Cut some wax paper to make a pocket. 

6) Slide in your card, seal, and tie ribbon or raffia around it:)

Have any fun DIY Valentine's links to share? Let me know!

Thursday DIY: Happy Storage

I needed a few more jars for some odds n' ends in my wall unit. So here is my solution! There are so many ways you can use baby food jars. I am lucky to have them around right now due to my baby boy who loves to eat:) You really only need a few supplies and ten minutes to turn them into all purpose jars that are bright and fun to look at!

                             Baby Food Jars                              Optional Supplies:

                             Double Sided Tape                         Happy Tape 

                             Scissors                                       Round Gift Labels

                             Grosgrain Ribbon

5 Easy Steps:

1.) Clean out your baby jars and take off labels

2.) Pre-Cut your ribbon colors of choice

3.) Use Double-Sided Tape to wrap and secure around jars.

4.) If you are using lids, add labels or spray paint them.*See below*

5) Enjoy these happy storage units for any purpose you can think of!

If you want to embellish a little more, you can add happy tape , which I use all the time for my order packages. Its so functional and fun. Another idea if you want to use the lids for Penny jars for your kids, you can add a circle label on top (I got mine at Whimsy Press for gifts) or just spray paint them! Have fun!

Thursday DIY: Improving Your Blog

As a new blogger, I had to do my own research on things I wanted to improve on my blog. So, I thought I would share some things that have been great resources for me...

1) Use Fun or Clean Fonts! Some fonts are way over-used. Its always refreshing to see something new. I guess that is the Graphic Designer in me. Its all about the TYPOGRAPHY. Here is a great place you can download free fonts of all kinds.  Like These:

2) Take off the word verification for comments.  There has been many times I have tried to leave comments on blogs and the word verification freezes or comes up after you already left the site, so I give up or miss the boat. If you are like me, you love hearing from your readers! You can remove it easily. Go to your blogger dashboard. Under the Settings Tab, there is a link to Comments.  Here there will be a question whether or not to allow word verification. It looks like this:

3) Design Elements and Webicons - Need a great resource for free webicons, vectors, and textures? I am going to let you in on one of my favorite graphic design resource websites...THINK DESIGN BLOG They are always offering fun FREEBIES.

4) Layout Variation -  A great place to find variations to the blogger.com templates is 3 Column Blogger This is how I found the step by step HTML guide to making my blog three columns. There are lots of other guides and it is EASY.

5) Share the Love- Everyone loves to hear from their readers. Visit your favorite blogs and encourage other bloggers, and the love will come around:)

Hope these tips help you in some way or other! Have any other good ones to share? LET ME KNOW! Have a wonderful Thursday!!