Scrap Strip Fabric Summer Bunting

June 29, 2010 By 10 Comments

Every Season deserves its very own Bunting don’t you think? Summer was just begging for one so instead of me heading outside I headed down stairs and got to work creating this easy and bright bunting to splash a little summer color in my front room!

It’s easy to assemble when you do your shopping in your scrap pile! You’ll need a variety of bright fabrics and a Double folded Bias Tape.

Lucky for me I have a fabric obsession! The hardest part I had with this project was narrowing down the fabric I wanted to use! I found that smaller prints looked best for this Bunting!

Cut your fabric into 8″x 9″ sections.

I then layered the fabric on top of a piece of craft felt. Now I know I always shout it from the roof tops to use high quality felt but in this case get your hands on the cheap stuff! This crazy set came from the Dollar Store! By layering the fabric on top of the felt we’re just creating a thicker more sturdy Bunting. Stitch the fabric on top of the felt by straight stitching or zig zagging the edges. Make it look playful and messy! It’s charming to look “un-perfect!”



Next we’ll make strips of fabric to lay on top. Again, this isn’t perfect science! Just make strips roughly 1″. We’ll trim the fabric that hangs over the edges.


Lay your strips being sure to vary your colored strips.



Straight Stitch them on with a bold color that will stand out and add one more detail!


Now it’s time to create our bunting.I love using Double Folded Bias Tape. It’s perfect!

To make sure your fabrics are perfectly centered simply fold the Bias Tape in half and mark the center with a straight pin.

Spread the bias tape on the floor and put your center Fabric directly in the Middle using your pin as a reference! Then add the rest being sure to space them evenly. Lastly you’ll straight stitch the Bias Tape together securing the fabric inside!





Bright Bold and perfect for Summer! Easy Peasy….just the way Summer projects should be!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Becca's posts, decor, DIY, fabric, Sewing Projects
10 Comments

Sunday Flashback "Coping"

June 27, 2010 By 13 Comments

I remember this day as if it were yesterday! I was home with my three and it was less then a month after I had Charlie. It was just one of those days like I’m sure many of you can relate to. I loved re reading this post! It made me proud of myself! That day could have gone two ways! I’m glad it went the way of finding the beat and clapping my hands!

Originally posted 4/8/09

DANCE or go INSANE

Today will go down in history as my worst day yet! (… ok Becks! Stop being so melodramatic! Worst day W.T.K…With Three Kids!) It’s Wednesday so that means I HAVE to cram 3 kids in car seats in the back of my Corolla! This task has jumped to the top of my list of things I HATE to do! So of course there’s a fight of who sits where, and tears and tantrums and, oh yeah…the kids weren’t too happy either!

Blue was her regular self at Target today… asking for everything, begging to go to the toy section where disappointment awaited her! She’s a sport though I will give her that! She helped carry a few things but managed to drop them every few feet and I was constantly asking her to hurry up, follow me and to try not to drop that again!

Should I take it as a compliment that the kids always want to be in the same room as me! Should I be flattered when I get sat on and smothered by little girls. I swear today I was covered in kids, totally enveloped in them!

So there was yelling, and fighting, and pulling one of the other! There was banging on a door with a mop and barricading in a closet. It was chaos! CHAOS!!! Phone calls were barely heard and cut short because I couldn’t hear over the fighting!

So picture it… tears, snotty noses , a baby who nurses ALL DAY LONG and me with three day old hair! Not pretty! I have piles of laundry, dinner still to invent and no desire to do any of it!

So that’s when it hit me! DANCE or go INSANE!!!! No I mean it! Pick one! You chose! So DANCE it was! My kids like Dance mom more then Insane mom so there you go! I gathered my crazy chickens and headed for the dance floor a.k.a. the living room! In went “Pink Martini” and away we danced! No holding back, swirly girl dancing! Close your eyes even dancing!30 min. of dancy dance dance! And breath mama! Breath

And can I just say I have inspired friends. In all the turmoil of my day I had two glimmers of sunshine… One amazing friend who heard the girls at their best while we were on the phone showed up with a new game for them to get lost in! Worked like a charm… it was my only relief from their coo cooness! And then at 6 p.m. a.k.a. Melt Down o’clock, I open the front door to find my oh so inspired neighbor and friend with food in hand and a friendly smile! One more amazing meal can you believe it and just when I needed it! Do I have amazing friends or what!

So the moral of the story is this… Always chose DANCE over going INSANE! Always open the door even when your nursing pad is folded in your bra wrong and looks like you have a folded nursing pad in your shirt. Always end the day with your kids with kisses and snuggles even if that was the last thing you wanted to give them all day long! And always remember that tomorrow isn’t Wednesday!!! That is unless it’s Tuesday night and then you’re pretty much screwed!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Sunday Flashback
13 Comments

4th of July "Can" offical start!

June 22, 2010 By 13 Comments

The 4th of July has to be one of my favorite holidays!!! I’m in love with all it stands for! Freedom! Sacrifice! History!Hope! Celebration!

I love a good excuse to pass on a little glimmer of my enthusiasm when ever I can! For this 4th of July it comes in the form of this fun candy filled Pop Top Tin Can!

4th

It’s as easy as Pie… take any pop top tin can and open it with a can opener from the bottom! Rinse it out and dry it well. Fill it with anything fun! Glue the bottom using a hot glue gun! Decorate the can with paper and tie ribbon on the pull tab! Add a cute tag and look forward to Oohs and Ahhs!

Any Holiday would be cause to can a little something! Holiday scrapbook paper is the perfect way to customize this gift idea all year round!

It also makes for adorable birthday gifts! They are the perfect size for hiding gift cards, lip glosses, jewelry and small trinkets!

m

I think they would be super cute for party invitations, Thank you notes or visiting teaching gifts! The possibilities are endless!!!

And once the top is off you can use it for a cute pen holder!!!

And yes… we had soup for lunch and my freezer is filled with zip lock freezer bags filled with diced tomatoes and beef stew!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: 4th of July, Becca's posts, gift ideas, Paper projects
13 Comments

Happy Fathers Day!

June 20, 2010 By 3 Comments

daddy

It’s easy to see how adored Mike is when he is surrounded by his girls! Daddy’s don’t come any better then this! When I asked the girls what they love most about their dad this is what they said…

  • I love it when daddy swings me in my blanket to bed!
  • When he “Jives” me and almost makes me pee my pants!
  • When he bought me ice cream at Zions!
  • When he finds me hiding in his bed and tickles me!
  • When he takes me to Classic Skate and we go on the water slides together!

How blessed are we to have such a wonderful Daddy and Husband to love!!!!

***I’ve been reminded of my own dad lately when I see the girls doing things I did as a child. Recently Blue has been calling Mike at work and asking him to bring her home a treat! My siblings and I used to do the exact same thing and call my dad asking him to stop at the company store and buy us licorice. On those days we anxiously awaited his arrival and there it was. Our requested treat in it’s brown paper bag!!! I can still picture it! Love you too dad!!!!

Thanks to all the great men in our lives who deserve so much honoring on Father’s Day!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Becca's posts, Just for fun, Sunday Flashback
3 Comments

Photo Tips with Emilie: Lighting

June 14, 2010 By 5 Comments

Hi, this is Emilie from Photo By Emilie with a photo tip.


One of my favorite photography topics is lighting. During my workshops we spend a lot of time discussing how I look at light, how I determine where I will place my subject according to my available light. Then how I enhance my available light to get warm gorgeous soft light on my subject. One of my favorite tools to enhance light is a reflector. Here are a few tips on how I use my reflector.


One trick to creating a great photo with warm light is knowing how to use Fill Light to eliminate shadow and illuminate eyes. In this photo I used the white side of the reflector. I placed the reflector at his waist and pointed it up into his face, this eliminated the shadow cast by his cap.


In this next photo I used the reflector to add drama and glow. I had my assistant stand about 10 feet back from the model. Using the gold side to catching a patch of sun and reflect it back onto the model. This achieved a more high fashion look and feel.

One of my favorite photography tools is my reflector.
I use the 32″ Soft Gold/White.

In these images you can see the difference from using a reflector. I placed the reflector white side up on her lap reflecting the light up into her face & eyes. I love the way the white side of the reflector creates a catch light in her eyes.



Learning to master light is one of the most challenging aspects of photography. Additional tools like this reflector, external flashes and speed lights add a level of drama to your images that you just can’t achieve without them. Someone recently asked me, do I need to use a flash in order to get that same shot? My answer is nope you can’t, otherwise none of us would bother. As you continue to master light with these tools you will begin to see your images pop and sparkle!!

Happy Snapping
-Emilie



Visit Emilie’s Blog Click Here
Learn more about Emilie’s Workshops Click Here

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Photo tips with Emilie, Photography
5 Comments

Sunday Flashback " Feel the burn"

June 13, 2010 By 6 Comments

Last year I issued myself a challenge. I had just had my third child and was feeling a little less then motivated! I wanted to do something creative or new every day for a month and this was one of those days! I really need to jump into this habit again! The funny thing was that my oldes daughter loved doing this with me so much she still will ask to get out a deck of cards and jump in!

Originally posted 4/23/09


Taking the idea from one of The Biggest Loser’s Training Tips I had a creative workout today!
Take a deck of playing cards and assign different exercises to each suite.

  • HEARTS= crunches
  • CLUBS = Lunges
  • DIAMONDS = squats
  • SPADES= reverse lunges

After shuffling the deck flip over each card one by one while doing the corresponding exercise. The number on each card tells you how many to do! Face cards equal 10 reps and Aces mean you get a one minute break! Don’t stop ’till you have completed the deck!

In this work out you will have done…

  • 85 crunches
  • 85 lunges
  • 85 squats
  • 85 reverse lunges on each leg!!!

It took me about 15 minutes to get through the deck and the girls loved doing it with me! Blue flipped the cards and Cricket worked out along side me while we all counted!

Working out can be fun if you mix it up!!!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Sunday Flashback
6 Comments

Kids can be Responsible too!

June 11, 2010 By 7 Comments
Pick up some Creativity created this fun and interactive Children’s Responsibility chart! I may have loved it at first becasue it’s the most perfect shade of green but once I read a little more I knew it was the perfect way to get my kids to get in gear and pitch in!


For full instructions be sure to check out the original post! More fun crafts and ideas are waiting to be discovered as well!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: kids, paint, repurposing
7 Comments

School years done right!

June 11, 2010 By 27 Comments
A few years ago While I was visiting my dads house he handed over a plastic grocery bag filled with my school “Crap” as he would have put it!!! Certificates, reports, awards, pictures etc… It was a jumbled mess but so fun to go through non the less!

I found an award I was given in Kindergarten, ” Great pumper award!!!” I’m sure my teacher had to rack her brain to come up with that one. I wasn’t a good speller or math whiz so being a good pumper on the swings was my top skill at the time! Still it was probably better then getting a “Great pusher in of her chair award!”

I also found a 10th place ribbon for some field day event, a poem I wrote in the 2nd grade and a slew of other smile inducing pieces of paper!

With the school year ending I’m sure you may be wondering what to do with the pile of “School crap!” your little ones have been bringing home! Problem solved!


On each hanging file I’ll be displaying their “First day of school” photo along with their signature.
I can’t wait to see how their handwriting changes over the years!

I picked up the pink crates at Walmart and let each of my girls pick out the ribbon they wanted. I’ll add their name in vinyl just above the bow.

These cute crates are easy to store in our guest room closet and even stack!!!

So there you have it! A place to put all those special treasures our little monkeys come home with!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Becca's posts, kids, organization
27 Comments

Sunday FLashback " Lesson in Sneakiness"

June 6, 2010 By 7 Comments

Kids! Gotta love em!

Originally posted 4/12/08

Ok kids!Listen up! If you don’t want to get in trouble for sneaking ice cream out of the freezer do yourself a favor and don’t leave the plastic kiddie spoon you used inside the empty box of ice cream!

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Sunday Flashback
7 Comments

How to recover from Casual Bloggers Conference…no really! I need some suggestions!

June 1, 2010 By 39 Comments
**warning: longest post in the history of BCD but three amazing days will do that to a gal!

it must be said…I’m wasted! Or so I think! Seeing as though I have never actually known what that feels like I can only describe it as exhaustion paired with a pounding headache, lack of motivation to rejoin the real world, slight flashbacks of dancing like a fool and of course a purse filled with so many mysterious business cards that cause me to ask myself…did I really meet this many new awesome new friends!The answer…YES!

Anyone else still feeling the effects of an AMAZING weekend!! I knew I wasn’t the only one intoxicated by the childless days and nights of girlfriend filled gab and blogger overload!

Ahh yes! I attended the first ever Casual Blogger Conference and it will go down in the annals of history as an event to remember!

Thursday night we kicked off the event at the Speakers Dinner held at the beautiful Noah’s event hall in South Jordan and THIS is what I was first greeted with…

My all time most favorite treat from The Chocolate. It was as if Ange knew I would be there and she carefully crafted an entire tray of Strawberry Shortcake just for me! ok… so a girl can pretend the universe revolves around her for a split second right! Non the less I thanked Ange, the owner and baker from The Chocolate and agreed to share! You’re welcome!

( Leave it to me to put a food photo up first! Typical!)

This room was packed with Blogger know how! Every where you looked it was your favorite bloggers all in one room!

Meet two of the master minds behind this crazy Weekend! Caroline (MomBabe) and Julie! Hello ladies! Thanks for rockin our world all weekend!

These two friends need no introduction but for their egos (wink wink) I’ll happily introduce you two my friends Kristina a.k.a. lover all all things snuggie and the always beautiful and glitter covered Annie Valentine a.k.a. photo friend/minivan shotgun pal/preggo beauty! Yeah… I HEART these two!

Ahh yes! And look at me and my beautiful, talented gorgeously tall, perfect in every way, mother of the year friend Camille! ( yes and no I’m totally buttering her up! She deserves all the praise but she also has some very incriminating photos AND video of me that I’m all to happy to never see again!) Just play along! I love you Camille!!!!

The dinner was great but the night was just beginning! We were off to Girls Night out for more food, friends and adventure!

One of the huge highlights of the night was meeting Char from Crap I’ve made! There I was in real life meeting Char! It was awesome! Char I love your CRAP! Huge fan of Crap!!!

And here are my all time favorite sister duo! I think I love them of course because they are beautiful and talented but they also remind me of me and my sister! Hannah is a rock star Graphic Designer over at Sherbet Blossom and Sarah is the amazing cook behind the blog Redhead Recipes. Get your design and craving fix with these two!

Ok…here’s one more person to hate. Sherrie Shepherd totally stood in the talent line like 5 times in Heaven. She is incredible on the piano and has a cd to prove it!

And here are some new friends Kami and Marie from Make and Takes. Marie and I later busted a few moves at the concert the next night! I still hope she likes me!

And check this out! Leigh Anne was whipping up lip gloss when I attached her! Thanks for the photo Leigh Anne! I still want your shirt!

Here’s the gang. Veronica is the gal to my right! She seriously is a rock star! I’m just lucky to call her my friend! I’m convinced everyone needs a Veronica in their life!

And here’s Shell! What can I say about Shell! Only that I totally adore this “Just the photographer” friend who made me laugh when it was inappropriate, cries when she laughs, and seriously has the coolest kids names! Live closer would ya!

Girls night out was filled with Chair Massages,



Making lip gloss, spilling lip gloss and stealing left over lip gloss! We also made amazing Teressa Collins Make and Takes! More on her later!

Vanessa did an incredible job in her class and yes we planned our matching outfits!

Here we are at lunch at TGIFridays. Just a note to all you TGIFridays fans…when they ask you what you want to drink with your Lunch special and you ask them what your options are that are included in the meal and they say Cranberry juice, don’t believe them. $6 dollars later I too was the fool! I’m just sayin’!

Let the night life begin…

First we were blessed to hear from the beautiful and talented Mindy Glenhill. I’m convinced this is what Heaven will sound like all day long when I get there! Mindy was incredible! I could have listened to her all night! I wanted to put her in my pocket and take her home!

Ok…this next Section is titled

Yes I am Happily Married! I promise!

Meet Cameron Rafati! Yes he’s hot! Yes he sings in a band and YES I’m happily Married!

Yes that’s itty bitty me making myself comfortable next to Cameron! Have I ever looked so short! Yes I just walked up there and yes it looks like he’s ok with it! Leave it to me right!

Yes that’s me jammin with the band post party!

And Yes that’s me striking a pose with the talented stallion of a man Cameron who by the way is single and by the way I’m happily married! But still! Am I right girls or am I right!

This guy and his band were incredible! I felt guilty for not paying like $80 to see them live! They truly sound like the hottest current band out there! And their video was amazing! I’ll post it once it’s released to the public but till then I’ll pretend it was a private viewing for ME!!!! Rock on Cam…that’s what I like to call him! CAM!!!!

And yes the rumors are true… I did dance, by myself in the aisle! It had to be done! I could not let one more song go by with out giving it it’s proper respect and that indeed included dancing…even if it was by myself! Thankfully the crowd joined in but yes oh yes I would have danced by myself had the audience been filled with less then enthusiastic married woman!

Poor Cameron and crew! A room full of Married moms! Doing this all nigh…


That’s me with my OLBFF Emily and Vanessa Rocking out!

But wait!

See that hottie in the Blue Shirt! That’s Kendall and she was the only single gal in the entire room! Lucky for Cam she’s hot! Again…I’m just sayin! And how cute is Natalie! Nat the Fat Rat was a blast and I have to say Nat… I loved your class the most! Glad I didn’t skip out on it! He he he!

Ok…I’m going to power through day three. It’s 1 a.m. and I’m fading quickly!

There was no better way to start off our 8 a.m. day then with Matt Townsend himself! This is where Shell lost it! We were laughing the entire hour and having been a fan already it was beyond great to sit and listen to Matt.

Day three was the day of our class! I spoke with an amazing group of woman! I seriously loves these girls!


From Left to right…

Elisa the amazing mastermind behind CBC! April Meeker, who has more style in her pinky and is beyond real making her a fast friend! Melanie Day of Sugardoodle.net who we all know and love and need to thank with baskets of goodies! Me. Teressa Collins designer and even more importantly an amazing person! Maria Lichty who I’ve loved emailing and getting to know better! She’s a food blogger so get to know her site! AMAZING! And last but not least Emily Cushing who I love love love of Giveaway Today! Love you Em!

I’d like to think our breakout group went fabulous! We had great questions and interaction and a wonderful group of bloggers in attendance! And thanks Over the Tipsy Top Design for sponsoring our panel! Aren’t theses glitter cups amazing!

The entire event was incredible!I meet the most amazing woman and was blown away! It was so fun to finally meet some on line friends in person!

Ashley from Little Miss Mamma is as darling as I imagined her and it was beyond fun to spend time with her!

Serene was borderline too much fun!

And check me out with Megan the Blue Cricket Design CBC ticket Winner!

And there was a beautiful lady who came up to me at the end of our class. She was wearing a beautiful gray embellished sweater and we only got to chat for a second! Who ever you were sweet friend I looked for you all afternoon! I wanted to chat a little longer and get to know you better! Oh rats!

And to wrap it all up we had some incredible Key note speakers…


CJane, Courtney Kendrick brought the house down with her better then the original ” I believe the children are our future” and her awe inspiring humor and insight!

And holy moly… Sophie Uliano is beyond beautiful! She’s pretty much amazing when it comes to Green living glamorously so of course I love her! How fun to have meet her!

She has this fun and fast quiz on her site that I would love for you to take!!!! Please please please with a cherry on top! I might win a bicycle or something if I get all my readers to take a minute to take a quiz! Fun huh!










So all in all CBC was a blast! I can hardly wait till next year! So as you can see by the lenght of this post the three days kicked my butt and I loved every minute of it! Off to bed at 2 am.

Find out how you can become a guest poster HERE!
Filed Under: Becca's posts, Just for fun
39 Comments

amazon

To the Top