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Dresses from Shabby Apple

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

What I'm Loving/Oh How Pinteresting

Happy Wednesday y'all!

Today I'm linking up with This Kind Of Love and The Vintage Apple!





I'm loving that my mom, sister, and my sister's boyfriend are coming up for a visit this weekend!



I'm loving that there's just over a month of school left!

I'm loving the Easter eggs I made!
You can find out how to make them HERE.





I'm loving my Pinterest finds this week.








What are you loving today?

Hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tail Wagging Tuesday

Happy Tuesday y'all!

I'm linking up with CMae for Tail Wagging Tuesday!



Instagram Edition!


This was not arranged! He seriously had himself tucked in bed like this!


Trying on the bow tie I made him for Easter! Tutorial to come on the blog soon :)


Growling at everyone that walked by!


Sunning :)


D'Artagnan thought it was his Vday card!


Team spirit!


Playful :)


And one of Youri. Gone but not forgotten <3


Hope everyone has a terrific Tuesday!

Monday, March 26, 2012

DIY Chore Sticks Tutorial

If your house is anything like mine, it has a tendency to get out of control really quick.
With Chris working and me in school full time, it's really hard to get motivated to clean up after a long day.
So this weekend I made us a chore jar!
I'm hoping that it will give us the motivation we need to make sure stuff gets done around the house :)

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

\
Jumbo popsicle sticks
Printout
Scissors
Mod Podge
(I used the matte finish but glossy would work just as well.)
Sponge brush or paint brush
Glass jar


I downloaded this free printout for the popsicle sticks.
(This printout was NOT made by me. It was created by Embellish and taken from Whatever Dee-Dee Wants)



Now for the tedious part. Grab a snack and start cutting!



Keep going! You're almost done!




After you've got your printable all cut out, you're ready to start adhering them to the popsicle sticks.
Take a popsicle stick and brush on a little Mod Podge.
Then press on one of your paper sticks.
I did the same on the back using the blank color paper sticks.



After you have the paper sticks adhered to the wooden sticks, brush with a good coat of Mod Podge all over.



While you're waiting for the sticks to dry, adhere the Chore Jar circle to the front of the jar and the color code chart to the back using Mod Podge.







I love these because they are super specific!
So you don't have to worry about half done cleaning jobs anymore.
No more "I forgot" or "I didn't know I needed to do that" excuses because it says to right on the stick!
Parents: this would be excellent for the child that goes into the bathroom and wipes everything down with a paper towel and thinks they're done ;)

The sticks are color coded by room so the chooser will know what they're picking from.
Parents: this would be good when assigning chores for bad behavior!

There's also sticks in there that make it sort of fun such as "pick two more chores," "trade one chore for a new chore," "parents pick the chores," "kids pick the chores," "freebie: no chores," and "put one chore back."

There's a ton of different chores to even include outside work, playroom work, garage work, and car maintenance like changing the oil!
You can pick which ones to put in your chore jar based on the needs of your family.
I think it's a great idea whether you're married, have kids, or just have a bunch of roommates!


This tutorial was adapted from the tutorial seen on Whatever Dee-Dee Wants
Printable from Embellished via Whatever Dee-Dee Wants.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

DIY Easter Egg Garland Tutorial

Hey y'all!

I recently made some Easter eggs out of string and turned some of them into garland.

I thought I'd share with you how to make them!



All purpose flour
Liquid starch
(I used Sta-Flo found in the laundry detergent isle at Walmart.)
Water balloons 
String
(I used embroidery floss but any string will do.)




There were so many colors it was hard to choose!

First, you need to make decoupage.  To do this you mix one cup of liquid starch with 1/2 cup of all purpose flour.  Fee free to double or triple this.




Then you need to place your string into the decoupage.  Don't just throw the string in because it will get knotted.  What worked for me was to swirl it piece by piece into the decoupage.  This way I didn't have a problem with knots.




Take a blown up balloon and wind the decoupaged string around it.  I used an entire strand of embroidery floss per balloon.  If you use something that comes in a bigger bundle, you will need to cut off sections.




The balloons will take several hours to dry.  I recommend letting them dry overnight to make sure that they are firm.




After the string has dried over night and is firm, pop the balloons.
If you notice any white crust from the dried decoupage, a straight pin scrapes it off quite nicely.




Then it's time to decorate!
I turned some of mine into a garland.
To do this I used more embroidery floss and threaded it through the eggs.
I secured them where I wanted on the string by using hot glue.





The extras I put in a glass bowl, and they look great in there too!




There are tons of different ways you could use these to decorate.
They were so much fun to make and look so cute!
Let me know if anyone makes these.
I'd love to see what you come up with!

Enjoy!

This craft project was inspired by the craft found HERE.

What I'm Loving/Oh How Pinteresting

Happy Wednesday y'all!

Today I'm linking up with This Kind Of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday and The Vintage Apple for Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday!



I'm loving that Spring is here!


I'm loving that Easter is just around the corner!











What are you loving today?

I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!