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"Some weeks ago Spotlight asked me to create a simple piranha softie kids can sew for Aaron Blabey’s book Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas. I loved the personality of the piranha and designed a simple softie of his character. This softie really is easy to sew…it’s made from only two pieces of felt…and it makes a great activity for mums to sew with or for their kids".... Read more

"We’ve been looking for some doormats to use in our holiday cottage but they were all kinda the boring and the rubber one we’d bought before didn’t really do a good job of keeping the beach sand out. The other problem was the width of the double patio door. We could find small doormats but we needed something a little wider on the patio. Long story short, we decided to make our own doormat using some astro turf aka fake grass".... Read more

"My director chairs were looking sad, very sad. What is it about Spring that makes me look at things in a different way, with a different eye? Well, whatever it is, "it" was making me want to do something drastic to my sad and neglected director chairs. I didn't want to throw them out. Realistically, they can easily give me another 20 years of service. Yes, I've had them THAT long. I like director chairs. Always have. They're comfortable and convenient".... Read more

"Sometimes folks who buy my masks will ask me for suggestions on making a costume that will go with their purchase. So I decided to put together this simple tutorial about making a child's owl costume that is simple and inexpensive and does not require any sewing. Three plusses as far as I'm concerned".... Read more

"I found this super fun yarn at Michael’s the other day. It’s Caron® Cakes™, a multi-purpose variegated yarn that comes in 18 shades each of which contains 5 beautiful colors.  I picked up two shades: Cherry Chip and Lilac Frosting. My grand daughter wants a hat and scarf made with the Cherry Chip yarn. I went for the grit stitch scarf. The Crochet Lilac Frosting Scarf (free crochet pattern) is slightly textured and is great for cool weather. The pattern stitch–the grit stitch–creates a dense yet light weight fabric with a slight diagonal pattern. It’s perfect for the mild winters in Central Florida".... Read more

"There are so many cards out there that creatively use kids' hand and footprints. Although cute, I always had trouble getting one decent hand or footprint from my son. As soon as he was old enough to paint, I had him use cotton swabs, instead of paint brushes, so he could easily dab the paint onto the paper. (Now he uses paintbrushes, sponge brushes and foam stampers). As you can see, his paintings are quite abstract".... Read more

"Quilling paper acorns, although totally and completely adorable, aren’t really a new design. There are a bunch of quilling paper artists designing and selling paper acorn ornaments that are just lovely! But when I was brainstorming new autumn quilling crafts, it dawned on me….I could make a quilling paper acorn with real acorn caps".... Read more

"Next weekend my family is getting together for what we call "fall birthdays."    We have a hard time getting the whole crew together, so it would be impossible to celebrate all of the birthdays individually.   Anyway due to the impending family gathering l find myself in need of a few gift bags.  Is it just me or do you also have a bunch of gift bags stashed away but you still never have the right sized bag with an appropriate design".... Read more

"One of my favorite charities is looking for people to make stuffed monsters for the children's ward.  Working toward my goal of using up the fabric stash I've accumulated, I found some scraps of yellow fleece. So why not use this fleece to make monsters for them? It worked perfectly. If you want to make some little monsters of your own, here are the details".... Read more

"My soap is always getting stuck to the sink. It's annoying, it looks bad, and it wastes my precious soap. Thus, I decided to make my own soap dish that looks good and drains water well. Honestly, I mostly made it because I think constantly leaving my soap out was secretly annoying my roommate".... Read more

"Pom-pom and tassel embellished sandals were immensely fashionable this summer, so Eva bought these lovely Spartan sandals with the idea to add them a bit of color. We decided to use only pom-poms and tassels although various types of pendants and charms can be added as well. To make the pom-poms I used this method".... Read more

"Do you have an old boring vase that you no longer use but still hesitate to get rid of? The best part about this easy tutorial is that you can simply turn even stained, broken and glued together again (my case) vases into beautiful new ones.  It doesn't necessarily have to be a vase that you are decorating. I've also decorated some old olive oil bottle and it turned out beautiful as well".... Read more

"Ha, every once in a while I just have to be silly... I thought these Minion Deviled Eggs would be a fun after school treat for the kids. They turned out goofy but kinda cute. Mix up your favorite deviled egg recipe and decorate.  I used green and black olives, some chive tips and candy eyes".... Read more

"The desserts were my favorite part of our Sesame Street party. Based on the rave reviews, I think they were my guests' favorite part too. I just loved how the cake turned out... so much that I was actually sad cutting into it.  It was a 12" two-layer, gluten-free vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Red sprinkles covered the sides of the cake, along with two Elmo face cut-outs - made from cut-out cookies and chocolate melts. The cupcakes were regular vanilla cake with chocolate icing and decorated with sprinkles, icing tubes, and chocolate chip cookie halves to resemble Elmo and Cookie Monster".... Read more

"I am so happy to show another easy craft here.  Today I am going to  give a easy tutorial for  hand made angry bird rakhi.    Needs:  quilling strips, scissors, glue, thread, and some beads.  Make the required shapes for angry bird -big circle, eyes, beak and  feather, and  then assemble it.  Now, angry bird is ready".... Read more

"I love scrapbook paper. It can be used in so many different ways to transform something boring into something extraordinary. Scrapbook paper is relatively cheap and there are some many different options to choose from.  I bought this pack of 24 sheets for under R 100, and I abSoooLutely love the soft neutral colors and beautiful patterns. It just oozes shabby chic. Soft, lady-like with pops of pastel pink and time-worn hints of days gone by".... Read more

"Summer is my favorite season but not when it comes to baking. I just hate to turn the oven on as it’s so hot and we don’t use air con. Many desserts I love need to be baked and so I’ve put them on hold for a while. But not this tasty, summery peach raspberry cheesecake recipe".... Read more

"Our laundry room is basically a large closet off of our dining room/entry room in our home. Is having the laundry room in our dining room ideal? Of course not, but with an old house sometimes the only options are really not all that great. But, I digress, so far it hasn’t bother Joe or I at all, the dining room is big enough and our laundry room/closet is plenty big enough so it hasn’t at all been a problem. We have a scratch and dent certified new LG washer/dryer combo, just in case you were wondering why there was only one machine that looks like a washing machine in the picture".... Read more

"Do you struggle to buy gifts for loved ones that are both affordable and appropriate? While it can be easy to find the perfect gifts for some people, it can be downright impossible to buy gifts for other people. If you're struggling to think of a birthday or holiday gift, handmade soap can be the perfect choice. Even if you're not trying to find the perfect gifts for loved ones, making homemade soap can be a fun art project for older kids and adults alike".... Read more

Recipe Makes Approximately 1/2 Pint

Tutorial at Happier than a Pig in Mud Blog

"On today's episode of Frugal Living-Squeeze that penny til it squeals... A friend gave me a ginormous New Jersey white peach the other day, it was gorgeous! I could have bitten right into it letting all that great peachy juice run all over myself and enjoyed it for a couple minutes, or... I could take a little time and whip up a Micro Batch of Peach Preserves to be enjoyed for several breakfasts. I opted for the latter"....Read more

"My granddaughter and I made this unique faux leather paper pencil case.  (I know that the photos are not the best, but we had fun!  What you need: faux leather paper, roasting pan, shaving cream, acrylic paint, plastic fork, zipper, sewing machine, scissors".... Read more

"I am currently trying to go through my entire house to clean, purge and organize. The food storage container cabinet was my first stop in the kitchen.  This cabinet was really, really bad....I mean try to cram stuff in real quick and slam the door before everything falls out, bad.   I started by dragging everything out on my kitchen floor.  I then went through each container and anything that was broken, seriously worn or missing a lid got tossed.  I then washed all the "keepers" and was left with this".... Read more

"After I made the graduation cards, I made a couple of birthday cards.  I did download a clip art, but as you can see, you can draw a box like you learned in first grade. The ribbon was in my collection of things made of fabric that come in packaging".... Read more

"Are there any Minion fans in your family? My boys love the little yellow creatures and I must say, so do I. Last time we went to the dollar store, they wanted  minion coloring books and I grabbed a bag of polished river rocks to paint them into minions".... Read more

"As women, we all share the common bond of going through “that time of the month”. I’d love to share what helps comfort me.  To me nothing feels better than watching a movie while snuggling on the couch with a nice warm heat pack. I would love to share a tutorial for an easy DIY heat pack.  You can warm these in the microwave or chill them in the freezer. This project hits off the three characteristics that make it the perfect DIY- It’s easy, inexpensive, and quick to make".... Read more