High Five For Friday: March!

TGIF!!!!  Now that March is here, it is starting to feel a lot like Spring. Bring on the Spring crafting, decor, gardening, and baseball games!  I'm linking up my top five highlights for the past week with Lauren. You should join us.

1)  Over the weekend, my daughter and I crafted an Easter themed wreath for her bedroom door.

2)  We had an abundance of avocados to use up, so I finally made one of the fancy avocado grilled cheese sandwiches I've had pinned on Pinterest forever.  Avocado, bacon, tomato, and Colby Jack cheese...does it get better than that?

3)  A late afternoon "date" with my husband while our daughter was at her tap/jazz class.

4)  Finally completing a way overdue Christmas gift for my mom.  I had promised her a pillow made using a photo I took of her Chihuahua, Buster.

5) While I had my sewing machine out and dusted off, I sewed an Easter shirt, headband, and matching sash belt using this fabric for my daughter.

Have a happy weekend!

DIY Pet Pillow: Chihuahua

It is that time again!!!

Link up your Pinterest projects with Sherry, Katie, Megan, and Michelle!

I have been wanting to make a Chihuahua shaped pillow of my mom's dog, Buster, as a gift.  

Materials needed:

1) A good quality photo of the pet/animal you'd like to use

2) Iron on transfer paper

3) Ink Jet printer

4) Sewing machine (or you could sew by hand)

5) needle and thread

6) material

7) Iron and some type of heat resistant hard backing (wood cutting board/piece of wood)

8) Poly fill

Step 1:

Prepare your image.  I used Photo Shop to add Buster to a white background and clean up the edges of his outline.  Then, I sized the image to best fit my transfer paper.  You may have to create a mirror image of your image but in my case, it won't matter which way he prints onto the paper.

Step 2:

Make sure you have enough ink in your printer.  You may want to print out a test print in order to make sure your image will fit the page the way you want it to.  Once you are good to go, add your transfer paper to the printer so that your image will print onto the unmarked side of the transfer sheet.  The ink must dry for 30 minutes before you can transfer it.  Now you may trim the image to your desired shape.

Step 3:

Iron your fabric smooth if need be.  Preheat your iron for 5 minutes to the highest cotton setting.  Do not use steam!  You will need to put your fabric over the heat resistant hard backing such as a wood cutting board.  You can't use an ironing board for this step.  Place your image face down onto your fabric where you want it to be.  Iron over the entire image using a circular motion making sure entire transfer, especially the edges, receives 15 to 20 seconds of heat.  Now, you may remove the transfer paper's backing.

 

Step 4: 

Trim your fabric to your desired pillow size.  Put the fabric with right sides facing in and sew around the edges, leaving a section a few inches wide open.  Now turn your pillow right side out and stuff with poly fill.  Finish by hand sewing the remaining opening.  Now you are finished!

Original inspiration pin came from go make me:

Source: gomakeme.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

My Valentine is SIX!

The best Valentine's Day gift I ever received turned six at exactly 6:16 am.  And yes, I set my alarm to wake her to the time she was born.  It was a good thing too, as she still needed to write out her Valentines for her classmates.

On the way to school with a purple rose for her teacher:

She took plain, heart-shaped sugar cookies to share with her Kindergarten class.  They decorated them with icing and sprinkles for their Valentine's Day class party.

She chose Cracker Barrel for dinner:

Taylor wanted a cookie cake for dessert:

2007/2008/2013

She continues to love taking dance classes, anything to do with coloring, drawing, crafting, she is doing a wonderful job learning her sight words and beginning to read.  We are so proud of her.

Little Things...

I'm linking up with Lindsay's Little Things:

1. Sunday morning, my daughter and I made signs and cheered my husband on while he ran a local 5k race.  It is my goal to join him in a race sometime this year.
2. Kitty cat snuggles
3. I made the sweet and spicy caramelized onion BBQ grilled cheese sandwiches that I saw floating around on Pinterest.  They are SOOOO good. I think next time I will have to add bacon.
4. My little one dancing around in the sunshine during our Valentine's photo shoot.

  

It's the Little Things: A New Year

1. Renewing our zoo membership for another year

2. Playing on the beach, last afternoon of the year...shorts, flip flops, big grins

3.  Ringing in the new year with my little family

4. Trying out new hairstyles

5.  Big Lilly Pulitzer sale!

I'm linking up with Lindsay and Lauren.  Please join us!

Sugar Bowl

Go Gators!!!!

via

Source: sheskindacrafty.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Source: sheskindacrafty.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest

Welcome 2013!!!

I am not making any official resolutions but I do have a lot of goals in mind for this year:

-read lots of books (I am addicted to my Kindle and OverDrive apps on my iPhone)

-take a course in modern Calligraphy (this has been on the back burner since last summer)

-eat better and exercise (duh!)

-practice photography (actually read my camera's manual)

-use more kindness in my everyday life

-practice more patience

-draw, paint, craft, sew!!

Our first breakfast of the year!

Source: hummadeedledee.blogspot.com via Monica @ Creative Gator on Pinterest