Don't name your kid 'Phone'

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I hope everyone had an amazing Mother's Day! I saw this awesome video, that I thought I'd share with you. It's super cute and it seriously made me cry.



Seriously...don't name your kid 'phone' or 'corndog'. Just sayin'

Let's hug it out,

 

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Mother's Day JoTotes Giveaway Winner

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Mother's Day! Just wanted to take a minute and announce the winner of the JoTotes Giveaway.

Tammy Davis, you are the winner!!! Congratulations! We are so excited for you to get TWO JoTotes Camera Bags, one for you and one for a special woman in your life (just in case yoare wondering, I'm pretty special myself and don't have a JoTotes Bag j/k).

Lots of hugs.

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How to Make Easy Crochet Spa Baskets

Today you can find me over at Craftaholics Anonymous sharing How to Make a Crochet Spa Basket. It is a very quick project, so it can certainly be whipped up in time for Mother's Day for those procrastinators such as me.

Go over to  Craftaholics Anonymous to find the full tutorial and show some comment love...pwease.

Hugs,

Today is the last day to enter our awesome Mother's Day JoTotes Giveaway.

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How to make a Chunky Crochet Lampshade Cover

If we're gonna be friends, you need to know that I hate baking, and if we get to hang out together, the cookies will most likely be store bought. What does this have to do with this crochet lamp shade pattern, you ask? Nothing really, except to illustrate that when you bake you have to be exact, and like one of my awesome friends told me once, it is a science. Nuh-ah. Not with crochet! You can totally wing it so much of the time, and depending on how loose or tight you crochet, on the thickness of the yarn or the size of the hook (crochet hook...not Captain Hook, in case you too are obsessed with Once Upon a Time), your work can turn out to be completely different from whatever pattern you were following, which I guess can be frustrating sometimes, but totally awesome for me. I hate following exact recipes, patterns or directions (yeah...I do get lost a lot).

That, my friends is the case with this super simple and fast project.  You've seen lampshades covered with flowers, paint, burlap, fabric, washi tape...you name it...blogland has seen it. This is my crochet spin on it.

Crochet Lamp Shade Pattern

What you'll need

 - This pattern will work for any size/shape lampshade that needs a little makeover. I used a  13'' diameter JÄRA Shade from Ikea that I had gotten a few years ago - Any Super Bulky weight yarn. I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease

- Size N crochet hook

 Abbreviations

CH - chain

SC - Single Crochet SL ST - Slip Stitch (or join) DC - Double Crochet

Pattern & Tutorial Round 1: Chain enough chains to go around the top rim of your lampshade minus 5 stitches. For mine it was 55 CH. Making sure not to twist, make a ring by joining with a SL ST.

Round 2: CH 1. SC all around. SL ST to join (55 SC total)

Round 3: CH 1. Work a SC in each stitch. If your lampshade is a bit concave like mine, you'll have to  increase evenly 4 times during this round. An increase is 2 SC in the same stitch. (59 SC total)

If your lampshade is perfectly tubular, no increases are necessary in this round or any of the rest

Join with a SL ST. Round 4: CH 3. Work DC in the back loop of each stitch to make a ledge that will fold in. SL ST in the top of the CH3 (59 DC total)

Round 5: CH 3. Work one DC in the same CH 3 stitch. This will be your increase in every row. Join. (60 DC total)

Round 6-13: Repeat Round 5 until you get to the bottom rim of the lampshade. For mine it required 8 more rows.

Round 14: CH 1. SC in the back loop all around. This is a repeat of the little ledge we created for the top brim. Join.

Round 15: CH 1. Work 4 decreases dispersed evenly around.

How to do a Single Crochet Decrease:

Put the hook through the first stitch, wrap the yarn over and pull through. You now have 2 loops on the hook.  Leave both loops on the hook.  Put the hook through the next stitch, wrap the yarn over and pull through.  There are 3 loops on the hook. Wrap the yarn over and pull through all three loops.

Round 16: CH 1. SC all around. Join. Weave in tail.

Dress  your lamp with it's new coat making sure you use the skinnier part for the top of the lamp and match the folded edge with rims of the lamp.

You're done! Because of the chunky yarn and large size hook, this is a very quick project. I did it while I watched some NBA documentary with the hubs (and no...it wasn't my choice. It was documentary night and it was between that or one about how to armor an SUV). Also, if you've ever bought a lampshade from Ikea before, than you know they usually don't work with non-Ikea lamps. Check out the tutorial about how to hack an Ikea lampshade in order for it to work for all lamps.

Enjoy a whole new look for your lamp, added texture and character!

Hugs,

Don't forget to enter to win TWO JoTotes Camera Bags. Today is the last day!

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Mother's Day JoTotes Giveaway

Mother's Day is only DAYS away! YIKES!! Are you ready? Do you have a gift for that special Mom in your life? Well, don't worry, we have you covered! Hang onto your seats and get ready for a FABULOUS giveaway!

With Mom Day coming quickly, the Craftaholics Anonymous® Creative Team put our crafty little heads together and decided to hold a very special giveaway just for you! We are giving away 2, yes, not 1 but TWO Jo Totes! {are you jumping up and down yet?! Because we are!} We are so excited to offer you this special giveaway! Jo Totes make us weak in the knees, so we knew they would be the perfect giveaway. 

If you're in love with these bags, wait till you see JoTotes' newest bag that we have the honor to introduce to you today! Behold the "Abby" bag! 

It comes in mint or lilac and is available for preorder today on May 6th.

 The lucky winner will get a Jo Totes for herself and one to give to a special gal in her life!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway 

GIVEAWAY RULES:

No purchase necessary. To enter, participants must like the facebook pages by using the Rafflecopter form above. This giveaway is in no way affiliated, administered or endorsed by Facebook. The giveaway closes on May 10th, 11 PM CST. The winners will be chosen via Random.org and will be notified by email on 5/11/13 and will need to respond within 48 hours to claim their prizes or other winners will be chosen. Winner must be 18 years of age or older and a US resident in order to win. Winners are responsible for paying any necessary taxes on winnings.

Disclosure: A HUGE thank you to Jo Totes for donating the prizes! We love Jo Totes and appreciate them sponsoring this giveaway.

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How to make a bed canopy with an Embroidery Hoop

My daughter has been making sure to remind me regularly that she is a a big girl and a princess. So, I've been working on making changes from a baby looking room to more of a toddler or as she reminds me - princess room.

Because we live in an apartment that we rent, where not much can be done to the walls, I decided to make this bed canopy, that provides a lot of impact for minimal wall or ceiling damage; also satisfying my daughter's pleading for anything princess related.

It is absolutely perfect and my daughter is absolutely in love with her 'princess bed'. Head over to Craftaholics Anonymous, where I am sharing how to make this super easy bed canopy.

Have an awesome weekend and lots of hugs,

 

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Chevron Wrapping Paper Covered Bookshelves

Though I love the look of bookshelves, decorating them is not my favorite thing. Why you ask? because I'm of the opinion that bookshelves should be practical, and used according to its destination...you know...holding books. However, if they hold only books and trinkets, they can look messy and chaotic.  I did my best at marrying practical, organized and pretty. I still have boxes full of books that haven't made the cut for displaying rights, but hopefully their turn is coming soon.

Here's what I started with...

                 

and here's what you'll need to achieve the same look:

• wrapping paper (when I saw this chevron one at HomeGoods I felt like the angels were singing Hallelujah and so I snagged 3 rolls (which is all they had)
• double sided tape 
• scissors and/or X-acto knife

Here's what I did:

• cleared everything off the shelves and dusted. This was the hardest or longest part of the project (you know...since I can hardly remember when I dusted there)
• removed shelves
• This is when you start measuring your wrapping paper. I was soo lucky because the width of the paper was exactly the same as the width of my bookshelves backing. Remember those angels I heard at the store?...yeah...now you know why - it was a match made in heaven.
• I actually didn't have double sided tape and tried using regular tape. That was a bad idea, as the paper would fall 2 seconds after i put it up and overall it made everything so much more frustrating, so I abandoned the tap route and went with push pins in the corners. You can barely tell they're there and most of them were covered by books anyway.

• After I attached with two pushpins at the top, I rolled out the wrapping paper all the way to the bottom of the middle shelf that doesn't come off, made a crease and used the X-acto knife to cut. I did the same for all the rest. 

It only took me one roll of wrapping paper, so for under $5, I was able to get a whole new look for the room. I like that it looks sort of nautical and will work out well for summer. 

What do you think? Do your books get dusted more often than mine?

Hugs,

 

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Spring Picnic Ideas

I have to say that one of my favorite ways to eat and in general spend time with friends, family or dates is to have a picnic. There's something so magical about it in my mind. I think it reminds me of my childhood days spent at my grandparents', running in the fields, smelling the fresh air, feeling the grass on my feet, and hearing the beautiful sounds of nature. Every day was picnic day, as we ate food we had just picked from the garden.

The other day it was my turn to plan date night and so dinner and a movie it was. I didn't really want to spend money at a restaurant (does anyone else feel like they go bankrupt when going to a movie?! Seriously...way too expensive), but didn't really want to eat at home either. So picnic it was. I decided to go with a simple and light dinner, as we had a coupon for popcorn and knew that we would stuff our faces with that during the movie (romantic...huh?!)

I made a broccoli grape salad, a small plate of Caprese Skewers (recipe here) and some
awesome Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I used a mason jar for the salad, topped it with some butcher paper, and the put the rim lid on. I tied the fork with some bakers twine. I added some paper and twine to the cookies as well.



We didn't stay very long (like 15 min at the most), because the winds became very strong and the sky looked like this.

As soon as we got in the car, it started raining. I still view the picnic a succes! Your turn to go grab something simple to eat and drink, and a blanket. It will make any dinner or lunch seem fancier.

What do you  like to eat on you go on picnics?

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Easter recap

I love the Easter season, because of what this holiday means, and what it does in terms of bringing families together.


So for this Easter we were able to spend it with close friends and family. I am grateful to have a wonderful family and especially for the amazing sacrifice of the Son of God and the Atonement he performer for us

As far Easter decor for this year, I went with a simple spring mantle and just a few words on a chalkboard.

I love to keep it simple, but this year it was mostly because I couldn't find my Easter Decor box anywhere in storage, and didn't want to spend any money to decorate. It was enough to spend on the candy for treats and eggs. Speaking of treats, my daughter wanted to give some to her friends for Easter, so she participated in filling these up.

I got the little baskets in the dollar section at Target; they came in a pack of six, and with two packs, we were all set. We added a bit of paper grass and topped it with candy. My daughter absolutely loved making these and stayed focus on filling the baskets and not eating the candy in the process.

Although easter egg hunts and bunnies are not a tradition I grew up with, I am happy to report that it was a lot of fun to watch my little girl enjoy these activities. 

 I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and lots of hugs,

 

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