For your mistle toes| printable

I finally found a minute to show you guys my next InstaChristmas tag!  I was going along all fine thinking I had a ton of time to get things done before Christmas.  Then this week happened and I feel like I have no time left!  

Sometimes though no matter how busy I get I always find time for things like adding touches to my dining room wall. Its been 3 years and I finally hung some of my favorite things on this really big wall.  I took a canvas and painted it with chalkboard paint so I could change it as often as I wanted. 

For your mistle toes! What a fun idea huh!  I kept it simple and used a circle punch to make little tags to tie on to some of my favorite colors of nail polish.  {jag-u-are. stylenomics. clambake.}  Chalk, hole punch, and some twine and you are done!  You could also use the tags to put on homemade foot scrub, or a cute pair of boot socks.  Really, just like the cup of cheer tags, there are a lot of fun ways to use these little guys!

 Mistletoes square Mistletoes 2

I made two versions of these tags.  One is these square tags perfect for cutting in to circles.  The other is a little bit bigger to add to a box for gift giving.  You can download them from google docs, easy peasy!  As always these printables are free to download, or you can click on the donate button and maybe donate a dollar to adoption fund.  

Are you guys feeling the sudden crunch of time for Christmas too or is it just me?!

Be sure to check out the other Instachristmas tags!

Cup of Cheer

Rock the Night Away

Thanksgiving Break Activities

SOoo, hows it going?  We are just hanging out around here.  Really.  Ivy had school yesterday.  And thats it for this whole week.  One day.  And then no school next week. Every kindergartener should have two weeks off for Thanksgiving right?!  Since there is no school I'm gonna have to keep her entertained.  Luckily I can give her a coloring book and she is good for a couple hours so I can get laundry done and clean the bathrooms.  I knew this long break was coming too so I've been hunting for some fun Thanksgiving activities we can do together while she is home.  Of course I found some other fun stuff that isn't so much for kids too.   

Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I've been wanting to make these with Ivy for awhile.  I'm thankful that others take pretty pictures to remind me!  DIY Birdfeeders from Ashley Ann.

This cute  printable thanksgiving day pack from Pizzazzerie even has a leftovers tag to send your guests home with leftovers in style!

If you want something a little bit different these free Thanksgiving printables from The TomKat Studio are gorgeous.  I love the brown and white simplicity of the whole thing. 

Fiskars has some fun decorations for the kids table .  I made the crayon holder pilgram hat already.  My budding artist is in love.

This Little Indian Party from Dear Lizzy would be a fun way to spend a cold day inside.  So dreamy.  

I still love this felt leaves garland from A Beautiful Mess.  I bet even littler hands could help with this easy fall decoration.

This gratitude garland from Somewhat Simple is lovely.  

I'm going to use some of our extra time to get a jump on our holiday gifts this year.  We are going handmade this year.  The Craftpack e-book is filled with tons of printables and projects.  I'm thinking the lumberjack breakfast kit would be a great hostess gift.

Hope you are enjoying the calm before the holiday storm this week!

An Asian Insprired Birthday Party

My friend Lindsay is amazing.  And amazing friends deserve big parties.  

An Asian themed dinner party is what we decided on and I love how it all came together.  A trip to the craft store for paper to make lanterns for decorations determined our colors would be turquoise and orange.  I love how the reversible colors show through on the lanterns.  The turquoise fringe was so pretty fluttering in the breeze. The fringe was made from plastic tablecloths.  {tutorial coming soon}  I know who would have thought.  Plastic!  Hmmmph.

Fresh cut flowers and confetti decorated the tables.  For the confetti I cut up a few different colors of tissue paper in to squares and we spread it on white tablecloths.  The same breeze making the garlands flutter, scattered a lot of our confetti but it just added to the party atmosphere.  Also on the table were  vellum chinese take out boxes with tea lights in them for a little bit of ...mood.  {I said that with a voice like Sebastian from the Little Mermaid}

I dip dyed coffee filters {tutorial coming soon} for the other garlands.  I love how they look like fans.  I also had some japanese lanterns from a different event that I got at Ikea to hang above the center of the tables.  

We had the party in our friends backyard. Isn't it gorgeous?!  The light is so amazing.   Thanks Mel for sharing such a perfect location! For dinner we served lettuce wraps, rice, and different chicken dishes to go with it.   I'm so grateful for party planning friends who like to feed people and took care of the food.  It was delicious!

Of course every party needs balloons.  Geronimo balloons are so fun and just make it that much more special.  I ordered mine from Balloon Bargains and got a 6 pack for $18 after shipping.   

The hit of the party had to be The Cake made by Mandy.  It was a Salted Caramel Six Layer Chocolate Cake.  Umm. to. die. for.  That's all I can say. If you want to wow em go for this cake.  I wish I had a better picture of it, but even that couldn't show you the fabulousness of it, and all the other desserts we had there.  

 Everything came together so perfect.  We even pulled off the surprise, which can be so hard to do.  Sometimes its hard to know if its really going to turn out like you hope and this was what I imagined and so much better!

Happy Birthday Lindsay!  Thanks for being such a swell gal so we could throw you a party!

instagram photo strip bunting.

I love my instagrams.  But they stay on my phone.  I've printed out some of them using PostalPix before but wanted to come up a way to display a whole bunch in a smaller space.  I got to thinking that photostrips would be way fun!   And they definitely were the right way to go!

 I started making a template in photoshop but I got frustrated that it was taking so long.  So I turned to  my friend google and found these awesome templates from Blush and Jelly. She just happened to post these the very day I was making mine!  It was fate! Plus, I'm not gonna lie I love that people share their talents so my projects are so much easier!

Using her awesome templates I made ten strips of photos.  Then in photoshop I opened a new 5x7 document and lined up my strips.  I resized each strip a little bit bigger and fit 5 strips on my 5x7 template.  If you need help with math that means I made 2 5x7's.  I'm so glad I made them a little bit bigger because the pictures are way smaller than I imagined.  But I like the itty bitty-ness of them!  Since I was headed to costco I uploaded my two 5x7's to their photo site so I could pick them up there.  A 5x7 at Costco is 39 cents.  So for just about a dollar I was able to make a photostrip bunting!

Once I unloaded all my groceries from Costco I cut my 5x7's into strips using a paper trimmer.  Then using bakers twine and some clips I already had I hung them up on a window I have propped in our front entryway.  I stop and look just about every time  I walk by because its such a fun way to display our memories from this summer so far!  

How to grow grass in a can

Do you remember growing grass in a cup when you were little?  Its easy and perfect for teaching how things grow.  A little dirt, a little sunshine and some water and you have results in just a couple days!  Ivy has been faithfully checking how her grass is growing every morning.  Its even ready for a haircut!

All you need for this simple project is a couple of things you probably already have at your house, and a $3 bag of grass seed from the store.  We used tuna fish cans and some dirt from our empty planters outside.  {We are still waiting for that warm weather} Add some dirt to your can, then sprinkle a couple teaspoons of grass seeds on top.  Put your cans in a sunny spot, add a little bit of water and watch your grass grow!  

To cutify our cans a bit I cut strips of scrapbook paper 1.5 inches by 12 and wrapped the paper around the can.  I used double sided tape to adhere it to the can.   This step is easiest before you add the dirt to your cans.

After the grass grew tall enough to use as decoration we spread them around the house.  I took two small skewer sticks and made a little bunting with these two.  Just tie some string between the two sticks and cut some banners.  I  folded the tops over about a half inch and set them on the twine.  Its an easy way to decorate for spring!

If you want to get fancy you can also grow wheatgrass as decoration too.  Ours is just getting long enough to clip and start adding to our morning smoothies.  Wheat grass is just as simple to grow, using the same steps as above, but with hard wheat from your food storage.  If you don't have any hard wheat you can find the seeds at your local health food stores {sometimes called wheat berries} or online.  The only extra step is to cover your seeds lightly with dirt after you plant them.  Keep it watered lightly and in about 10 days you have wheatgrass to use as decoration and to add to all those green smoothies.  

Hope spring has sprung where you are!

Simple Spring Garland

 My sweet holiday loving little girl deserves spring decorations right? Even when her mom just doesn't love spring decorations.  But when I saw these fun colored plastic eggs at Target I knew we could compromise and add a fun garland to Ivy's room.  

A craft can't get much easier than this simple spring garland. It was a perfect rainy day activity for us.  The eggs already have holes in the ends and everything.  All you will need is...

plastic eggs {mine were $2 for a big bag at Target}

string

Have little hands help you take apart your eggs and then you can start stringing them together.   Ivy came up with a pattern and was great at keeping them in order.   If the holes weren't quite punched all the way through, all I had to do was take a pencil and poke the hole to make room for the string.  Once you have the length of garland you want, knot the ends of your string and hang it where you want.  

We hung ours in Ivy's room along with her bunny garland she made.  I used Dana's Peeps bunting pattern and imported it in to my Silhouette.  Then I used the Silhouette to cut out some bunnies using white cardstock and gave them to Ivy to color.  I love all of the smiling faces!  After that we punched some holes and strung them together.  Almost as simple as the egg garland and just as fun to do together. 

Ivy thinks the only thing better would be if the eggs were filled with candy! 

Swimsuits Rack: DIY

{my little fish}


Hi friends!  How was your 4th?  Ours was super fun and I'm just getting back in to the swing of things around here.  But I'll tell you one thing.  We are living in our swimsuits these days.    Pool, Rinse and repeat it seems. And Ivy may or may not even sleep in hers sometimes.   I needed a place to wrangle those suits so we aren't scrambling to find them when its time to go.  I love my rack I came up with and as promised here's a quick how to!

SUPPLIES

board cut to desired length.  Mine is a 1x8x20

Spray paint

faucet handles {I got mine at Home Depot}

vinyl lettering

I found this board in the garage that was painted white and everything all ready to go! But I wanted pink letters so I decided on reverse stenciling. So I spray painted just the top pink.  I let it dry for about 10 minutes but wasn't too worried about letting it dry completely because I want it to be distressed.  

I cut out vinyl letters with my silhouette using the BEBAS font {one of my faves right now} and applied them to my board.  Then I had my helper paint the whole top white with craft paint.  Right over the top of the letters.  Just make sure you don't glob the paint on over the letters or it will seep.  Spray paint would work well too.

Let the paint dry for a couple minutes but not totally.  Then use some tweezers to peel off your letters.  If you want, use some super fine sandpaper to knock down the edges of the letters and distress to your liking. 

I spray painted my faucet handles with the same pink {rustoleoum 2xcoverage pink}, and let them dry completely.  Then I measured out where I wanted them and drilled holes in my board.  When you are getting the faucet handles make sure that you get the ones that have a knob on the back to help it stand off the board.  And Lowes did not have the handles so don't waste a trip.  Just head to home depot and ask where they are.  Then  find some screws in the garage and screw on your handles. 

Booya!  No more scrambling for {dry} swimsuits or lost bottoms!  Happy Swimming!

Hello Monday.

Hello rainy monday.  I have to admit that when it is raining like it is today {and we have had a week of sun} I kind of like it.  It reminds me of home and makes me feel cozy.  As long as it doesn't stay I'm perfectly content to enjoy a day inside with my girl and a big pile of books.  Ivy and I have been playing camping,  reading book after book and playing with babies.    We have had a weekend of highs and lows so mellow is always nice.

  

We are getting sad this week that some of our family that we came here to be close to is moving away.  Funny thing is they are moving to Denver where we came from.  Ivy will miss Lytton who she always proclaims is her bestest friend and I'm going to miss my dear LoLo. So I planned a little girls night with just the aunties and Grandma to sit and chat one last time before she leave us for the Rocky Mountains.  {yes I'll admit I'm a wee bit jealous that they will be back in the mountains I love.  Although I'm not jealous of the snow in May.}

We enjoyed a few treats and sipped italian sodas with some happy yellow straws. . . 

turned down the lights and visited and giggled just like girls do.  

Parties are the perfect excuse to buy flowers... 

and to sew fun things and pretty up the place.

We are being brave  because we know our family will be back soon.  We are so happy for them on their new adventure. And Ivy will still proclaim Lytton to bestest friend and we will always love our crazy Lolo.  {and yes Rich we will miss you too!}  

How was your weekend?  And Happy Monday to you! 

Glitter Hearts make me happy.

How do you like my newish digs {again}?  I can't help it.  I just have too much fun, trying out new stuff and the holidays just need to be decorated!  I've got a little valentine project to share, but I wanted to point out a couple of things real quick.  I've been cleaning things up and working on adding pages, so those big words over there will take you to things like how to get a hold of me, my shop, blogs I like to look at... stuff like that.

I also had a moment of crazy the other day and signed up for twitter.  I have no idea what I'm doing on there, but I would love for you to come and follow along with me, and I'll follow you too!  My handle{?} is @ruffledsunshine. Do you say handle in the twitter world?! See. Crazy.  I need twitter lessons.

+++

I'm slowly learning that Valentines Day is a holiday you have to get a jump on.  If you don't it sneaks up on you and then you are scrambling.  I got a little push the other day when I got to help style a  Valentines photo shoot.  I can't wait to show you how it turned out.  It was kind of really amazing. 

{oooh,  a sneak peak ; P }

 

Since there has been very little crafting going on here at this blog I thought i would share one of the little things I came up with. 

 Ready to get your heart on?

At Christmas we got a slice of a tree from Darin's Grandpa.  I got to brand it and everything.  It was all very exciting.  And now its perfect for the photoshoot.

  

I cut a heart out of vinyl on my Silhouette.  I didn't use the heart though, I used the negative space as a stencil.  Vinyl is awesome that way.  I love it when things pull double duty.  

Place your stencil on your wood, or whatever you are stenciling. Make sure and seal the edges really well, especially if you are using paint.  

I've been feeling all of the sparkly stuff lately so I went for mod podge and glitter on this one.  Paint your mod podge on pretty thick then dump on some glitter.  Joann's has started having some holiday colors of glitter in their dollar section.  I love it because I don't have to try so hard to save every speck of my $5 glitter.  Once it has dried a bit dump off your excess glitter and then mod podge OVER your glitter.  I know it looks scary but it does dry clear.  I promise.

After it dries, take off your stencil and you're done!  Its a simple project, but I love how the glitter and wood go together.  Two things that aren't necessarily supposed to be together, but get along so fabulously. 

XOXO.

See glitter hearts make you happy too.