Coffee Sleeve Tutorial

I think these coffee cup sleeves are a cute gift for teachers, co-workers, your favorite mail carrier, babysitter, friends, sisters, mothers... the list goes on and on.

They are very easy to make too.

The supplies you will need are...

• a coffee cup with a sleeve
• scissors
• pen or marker
• a glue gun and glue sticks
• piece of felt
• any other fabric scraps, ribbons, buttons, anything that you would like to use to personalize it.

1) Remove the original coffee sleeve from the cup and carefully pull it apart. Lay it out flat on your piece of felt.

2) Trace around the coffee sleeve.

3) Cut out your new coffee sleeve from the felt.

4) Fold it in, and over lap the end pieces. You can use your original coffee sleeve as a guide to see how much you should over lap.

5) Pull back the top flap.

6) Apply a line of hot glue from your glue gun.

7) Lay the flap back down and let the glue cool.

8) Pull up the top flap so that the bottom of the inside flap is exposed.

9) Apply a dot of hot glue. Allow to cool.

10) Decorate, and give with a favorite coffee drink. 

You can use anything you would like to decorate your coffee sleeve. Make it special to the person you are giving it to. Encourage them to carry it in their car or purse so that they can save a little bit of paper when they order their next coffee to go.

This is the one that I did. I delivered two of these with hot lattes to two special girls on Thanksgiving morning to let them know I was thinking of them that day.

If you don't feel like making them, and live in southern Minnesota, swing by Sticks and Stones.... I have been busy making 500 of these babies to be handed until Christmas...or until supplies last.

I haven't decided if I am going to put some in my shop yet, but I have been taking a few orders for them, so if you have no desire to make them but would like some to hand out to your favorite people contact me, I would be happy to see if I can accommodate your order.



Christmas Garland Tutorial

This is the Christmas garland I have been making for a store display, and I thought it would make a nice tutorial. I am using polar fleece because I like that it doesn't fray, and it is the perfect material for winter. However, I think this garland would work well with other fabrics. I can see it in a ticking stripe for a more homespun look. Or some bright twill, heck, a pretty sheer fabric could be beautiful as well. Go ahead and experiment with different looks.

Materials needed

1. Felt or any other type of material that you would like to try
2. Straight edge
3. Scissors
4. Sewing machine
5. Thread in matching color

First lay out your material and use your straight edge to make your marks for cutting

Next, cut your pieces out.

If you want a longer garland, sew two of the strips (or more) together to make one long strip of fabric. You will ultimately want 4 pieces the same length for your garland.

Gather your pieces together, and lay them on top of each other. If you are using more than one color, alternate colors.

Continue sewing straight down the center of your strips. Remember to back stitch at the beginning and the end.

After you have your 4 pieces sewn together, make many cuts towards the center of your garland. Be sure not to cut into your stitches. Do this for both sides.

Hang throughout your house, on your tree, back of chairs, over mirrors, windows, etc.

 I can see this garland in many different colors. I am loving the mustard yellow and pink combo I did. But you can be more traditional and use red and green or red and white. OR... let your imagination go wild and think out side the box of traditional colors for Christmas this year. We are at our house.

The beauty of this garland is that it doesn't have to be perfect. None of my lines were perfectly straight, and my cuts were all different widths, but when you are all done it looks great.

I have another fun tutorial coming up soon for some home-made christmas gifts, so check back.



Cheerios

I just love when Oscar snacks on Cheerios. He talks the entire time, and it's not just jibber-jabber, he really is telling me a story. If I could only understand him! He goes from excited, to serious, to funny, to almost sad, I can't get enough.

Today I decided that I wanted to capture him while he was eating. Here are some of my favorite images of our "photo shoot".

                                 I love how he hooks his little toes under the tray on the high chair.



Don't you just love the Cheerios on the floor, on his shoulder, and on the foot rest. Nobody said he was a neat eater.

A bit busy.

I truly feel like one of Santa elves lately. I have been working the night away on so many projects. First, I am working on a Christmas redo at Sticks and Stones and my mind has been running wild coming up with some fun ideas to do in the store, now I have to actually make it a reality, which is always the hard and time consuming part. If you have never been to Sticks and Stones, you must stop by. She has the cutest clothes and a great supply of beads, along with many beading classes. And, you have to stop by to see the store when it is done up for the holidays.

I am also opening my own store, which has been very exciting, and so much work. I have been hunched over my computer finishing up some of the little things that go into launching your own line, and when I am not on my computer, I am sitting at the sewing machine humming away and making pretty little things to sell.

I am also so excited to decorate our house for Christmas, and have some great ideas for decorations. Of course, I have to make most of them, so on top of all the other ideas I have running through my head, I am also storing my ideas for my own house in hopes that soon I can focus on our Christmas decorations (hopefully I will get to them before December 25th).

And if that is not enough, my favorite "roll" that I need to play is mom to Oscar and wife to John. I love my time with them and I am not willing to sacrifice that for any other task, which is why I am doing most of my work well into the night. So while John snores next to me and Oscar's sweet little night noises play on the baby monitor, I work away.

If you have emailed, called, or texted me and I haven't gotten back to you, this is why.(I promise to get intouch with you very soon.)  And if you see me wandering around the store talking to myself....well, now you know, I am not going crazy (yet) just working some ideas out in my head.

Like I said I have been busy opening up my own Etsy shop, and my dear friend Krysta is hosting a giveaway on her blog. And....guess what one of her favorite thing happens to be... a necklace from my holiday line at Tickled Pink. She is doing such an awesome thing, I encourage you to check it out and participate. She truly is beautiful INSIDE and out, isn't she.

And stay tuned here for information on the grand opening of my Etsy shop.

We are what we eat.

Before Oscar was born cooking a great meal seemed like a nice idea, but I would preheat the oven and put the pizza in instead. Now that Oscar is here, I realize that soon he will be eating the same meal I am and I just can’t imagine filling his little tummy with all the preservatives and “fake” food that I was putting in mine. So for a while now I have been trying a new recipe here and there, doing “test runs” for when Oscar eats “big people” food. I also want Oscar to see us eat good food and someday I want him to learn how to prepare healthy snacks for himself, and if it is possible to choose an apple over chips (do you think I can make that happen?). It is very important for me to teach him about where our food comes from and to show him how simple foods can come together to make a beautiful meal. I love this website for that exact reason, beautiful photos, simple foods, and delicious meals.

It is so nice that Organic baby food is sold everywhere, however, I feel like I don’t have many choices when it comes to variety. I want to expose Oscar to as many fruits and vegetable now and hopefully he will keep trying new things throughout his life. I have been making some of his baby food to fill a void in the lack of fruits and vegetables available to us. So far we have tried homemade avocado, banana, and pumpkin, but are excited to try many others. I refer back to this website often , if you are interested in making your own baby food check it out.
And....for dessert one of my all time favorite websites.

I love the photos, I love the font, and the cupcakes....my goodness the cupcakes!



What are some of your favorite food websites?

Oscar wants to ask you...

If he should grow a mustache?



Baby Charlotte

Quinn's Grandma was my first grade teacher. Then in 2nd grade, I moved schools and Quinn was in my class, we have been friends ever since. We lived together in college, we were in each others weddings... and now we are having babies together. I went to meet her sweet little Charlotte, who was only a little over a week old, and the sweetest little baby you will ever see. My wish is that Charlotte and Oscar will know each other as they grow up and will be great friends.

She was such a tiny little peanut, and I think she looks a lot like Quinn.

Charlotte even put her Halloween costume on for us.

Isn't she the cutest little chili pepper you have ever seen. She looks so warm and comfortable, I sort of want a chili costume of my own to wear on these cold nights.

Ummm, I also had to show the chandelier in Charlotte room. It is almost as cute as she is, and if I wasn't so short and their ceiling was not so high I may have tried to sneak it home with me. I'm only kidding...sort of.

I had to make something for Charlotte, and although I love to make things for Oscar, I had a GREAT time coming up with some girly ideas to bring for Charlotte. I only had time to do two of them, but next time I visit I will be sure to make some more girly gifts for her. Girls are just so much more fun to dress up...sorry Oscar.

First I made her a pair of cozy pants. I made them out of a maternity sweater I wore last year. They were super easy...look for a tutorial on these in the future.



And then I made her a little hat. I made sure it was nice and warm and had some flaps to cover her tiny ears. I fell in love with this hat, so be sure to check my Etsy shop (opening soon) for some of these.

Congratulations Quinn and James on your sweet baby girl, I am so in love with her.



My Little Lumberjack

Oscar was originally going to be Elvis, but I had some issues with making his costume, so last minute I decided to make him a little lumberjack. And I think he liked it. I know I did.

 At the end of the day Oscar changed into a skeleton for the evening. He was such a good little trooper letting me dress him up, but to be honest, he is most days. We had a great first Halloween with him and are already coming up with ideas for next year. I hope you all had a nice Halloween as well.