Happy Birthday!

...to me!

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. It was a good day despite the rain that comes every year. We went to church and after a friend cooked us dinner that was delish. Spent some wonderful time with the hubs. It was a good day. My favorite part was when I came home and ate my microwave birthday cake. I first found the idea on pinterest. You can find it here.

Instead of a mug I used a little 2 cup Pyrex dish so I changed the portions to 4 tablespoons of mix to 3 tablespoons of water. I also got the Pillsbury icing in a can so I can keep it on the shelf with the cake mix.

This came out perfect. In only a minute I had a nice single serve cake. I thought it would lack the strawberry flavor since its mixed with the angel food mix but it didn't. I let it cool done before adding icing but still ate it warm.

I have to say this will be my new guilty pleasure since it makes a lot of mix to have on hand. Perfect for late night cravings!

If you try it in any other flavor leave a comment telling me how it was, would love to hear it.

Picture Frame Pin Cushion

I first want to say I am posting this using my new blogger app for iPhone so I have no clue how this is going to look when published but I thought it would be fun to use. It's like sending a text to the blogging world lol. Now on to my project.

This was one of those spur of the moment projects that was done last minute so no tutorial. But it's so easy it really doesn't need one.

I usually keep my pins on a teeny little box that came with one of those starter sewing kits and always said to myself I need to make a pin cushion and never did. When I knocked over the little box on the floor when my daughter was playing across the room I saw it as a hazard and stopped what I was doing and made this little cutie.

All you need us a small frame, some scrap fabric, hot glue, and a little bit of stuffing. For my stuffing I dissected an old cheap stuffed animal of my sons that had a hole in it. Don't worry. It was a cheap one out of the claw machine from Walmart. Not much if a loss and he didn't even know.

Take out the glass of the frame because you don't need it.

Cut your fabric scrap a little bigger than the inside space in the back

Hot glue your corners down first. Then as even as possible glue in the rest

Add the stuffing in and replace back.

Yeah, it's that easy. I finished two in about 10 minutes. Now I don't have to worry about spilled pins on the floor AND I have some added color to my craft table.

Flossed Out Earbuds

For Valentine's day this year my hubby was the greatest and I got an iPhone. YAY! I Instantly wanted to try two things that I saw on pinterest. First being embroidery floss/yarn wrapped headphones. The second was scrapbook paper inserts for a clear iPhone case.

pic taken with my phone, sorry about quality

I used the tute found here, but used embroidery thread that I already had instead of sock weight yarn. I really liked how it turned out, and I love that there are no more tangles, I HATE reaching in my purse for headphones that are imposable to untangle.

When I got to the button part I knotted above, then one below, then one above it again to have floss on all sides. I suggest buying the craft floss that does not split for this because I have an issue with splitting here

When I got to the split I just went back up the other way, and then for the bottom half started a new floss. It took about two spools of floss and came out pretty good.

I think the only thing I would have done again would be to have some self patterning floss for a bit of color change.


I also did the scrapbook paper thing but I'll post later on that when I have a pic to show you.

Baby's 1st Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated Nana's first birthday. Boy does time fly! It seems just like yesterday I was bringing this teeny little creature home from the hospital. Now she's into everything chasing around her big brother.

I had originally pinned tons of fun little ideas with a pink cupcake theme, but reality set in and we did something very simple but I think it turned out really beautiful and I was so happy with the results.

This banner was done with simple paper plates and letters cut out of card stock. So simple yet pretty. (I did not notice that this was crooked until looking at this picture, maybe no one else did either).
The tissue paper pom poms were made using a Martha Stewart tutorial found here. I strung them to the ceiling with yarn from my stash and command hooks. I had everything on hand so I thought it would save on balloons.

 Close up of pom pom

Cupcake tower was from Michael's (wrapped in pink tulle), amazingly cute with pink polka dot cupcake wrappers. That was her little party hat I made to go with the rest of her outfit. If you look in the back at her highchair that matches too. It originally was a brown and teal, which nice, was an eyesore with the decor, so  safety pinned some extra fabric to the front and it matched.

Look at her! Tutu was made by me using the satin wrap tutorial found here. On this page she also has a few links on how to make the tutu itself. I Made her onesie applique using some fabric and Heat N Bond ultra hold. Cupcake clip art is from here. The number one and flame was using a regular font and a shape in Microsoft word. Here are some close up shots

Hat was made using a cereal box and a template found here. I added an inch to the bottom to make it a little taller, covered in fabric, added ribbon trim to hide seam, hot glued a tulle pom pom to the top. After I hot glued it to the headband, I also hot glued a felt circle to secure it on.

 Here she is with the hat on her head. It was a rare picture. She liked it, but only for short periods at a time.

In the end, it was a great day and I think she had fun. She was wore out by the time everyone left and slept good that night.

Linked up at Made By You Monday

A Not So Orange Halloween..YAY!

Ok, so before I say anything, I know I have been slacking on my blogging duties and I am trying harder, lack of projects is no excuse since I am always doing something creative in one form or another. I have just been so wrapped up with research for my new design that I am SOOO excited about so I've really been spending all my free time with that. I promise I will have the first installment of my Kids Krafts Friday this upcoming Friday, if I don't, you can hog tie me and beat me up I swear, anyway on to my post.

I'm not really big on the whole Halloween thing. I mean, its just not exciting to me, love a good fall decoration though. And my hubs habits are rubbing off on me and I'm turning into a Christmas fanatic like he is. (I have asked a few times already to put decorations up) When I saw this i thought it was the cutest thing ever, you put hello kitty on anything and I'm sold.

Besides the hello kitty pumpkin which is to tie for, look at the super cue pink glitter candle. This pic was found on a website called Prunille Fiat Son Show but I found it via Craft Gossip. Just a word of advice that the original website is in some other language so I have no clue what it says and the google translator never works for me. Which is sad because craft gossip featured another post of theirs about baking bread in a pringles can which i thought was a cute idea.

Anyways, I just thought it was too cute not to share with you, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did

Till Later,

Natasha Nicole

I'm In Love With The Mailman

Don't you just love getting new packages in the mail? I do, its even better when it's something you've won. That's right, my Little Pink Tool Set came in that I won from the Shanty 2 Chic giveaway.

Isn't it cute? (I mean the tool bag) I think when I find another good place to keep the tools I'm going to use it as a purse.

I was so excited to open the box I felt like a kid on Christmas. Even Noah was excited that I got a box in the mail. I love the enthusiasm of kids.

P.S. I did not model her like that, I looked on the floor and she was trying to crawl away with it on her arm :)

I'M A WINNER!!!

I'm so excited I can't stop smiling. I had a wonderful 1st anniversary weekend with my hubby. We went to Shenandoah Caverns which was amazingly beautiful, even little mama had fun, she was so tired but did not want to go to sleep, she didn't want to miss anything. After that we went peach picking at a near by orchard which was fun, but by then little mama was sleep and slept the whole time in the wagon. I left that morning in such an excited rush that I forgot the camera and do not have pictures of any of this. I know, I'm sad about it too. I can't wait for the hubs to make some peach cobbler with them. Can you say YUM?

This morning I woke up with an "ugh Monday" feeling and checked my e-mail only to find out I was a winner of the Shanty2Chic Little pink tools giveaway! Yeah, if I were you I would be jealous too.
Here is what I won

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I've never been more excited for the mail to come in my life. Now all I need this that pink drill.



Twitter Inspired Fabric

I was looking around on fabric.com for some fabric to use on a future project and I came across this

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How cute, I don't know what I would use this for but I thought it was too cute not to post about. When I first saw it I thought it was funny, then I wondered was at an actual twitter name. So I did the logical thing, went to twitter and checked it out. Greatest thing ever. Sew to Speak is a little fabric shop in Columbus, Ohio ran by a mother daughter duo. They also have a variety of different sewing classes. Looking around on their website, I now want to take a trip to Ohio just to go to their highly adorable shop and stay long enough to take a few classes. head on over to their website here or check out their blog here

don't forget to check out their twitter @sewtospeak

while your there you can check out mine @LkyStrCreations

(shameless plug I know, but I couldn't resist)

and if you are in the market for some fabric for a project (or to stock your stash, I wont tell) The Raw Feed has some awesome coupons for fabric.com as well as coupons for many other retailers.

Ice Cream Pint Holder

This tutorial is near and dear to my heart because I've had it on my to do list for some time and never got a chance to do it. I love eating ice cream straight out of the pint like I said on my favorite things post. I never eat it all at once and I hate when it starts to melt from holding it and when I refreeze it the outside tastes a little different. This nifty little cozy not only helps keep your ice cream cold, but it keeps your hands nice and warm too (finger-cicles are never a good thing) and it even has a pocket for your spoon and can hang on the fridge so you always have it on hand.
Disclaimer: I am a newbie at sewing, and I'm known for making things a lot harder than it needs to be, this is the way that I did it, although there may be an easier way, if you know one, please leave a comment and share.
Here Goes!!

Materials:
Outside Print Fabric (or large scrap) I had a quarter yard'
Inside Fabric
Insul-Brite
Coordinating Thread
Empty Ice Cream Pint. If you don't have one, go buy two. Eat one now, Save one to reward yourself when your done.
Round magnets, I got mine from Joann's. They are super heavy duty 18x3mm
Rotary cutter, mat, and ruler. (or good coordination with a regular ruler if you don't have one)
Paper scissors, and fabric scissors
permanent marker
box cutter, or exacto knife
pencil
paper (2 sheets)
Tape
Iron


1. Take permanent marker and mark line where top is on container.











2.Use box cutter or exacto knife to cut along that line, the side seam and the bottom circle

3. Now use your flattened as a pattern and trace on paper. Tape two sheets of paper together so you have enough space to add the inseam. For the top and bottom add a 1/2 inch. on the sides add 1 inch.
I dont have a picture of this because I did it a while ago, but I used my ruler and added small points from the line to where the new line will be, and then played connect the dots all the way around.

4. Cut out your new paper pattern. Then use this pattern to pin and cut out fabric and insul-brite.

5. Next use your rotary cutter ( or ruler if you dont have one) and cut out a rectangle on a folded edge of your outer fabric. The fold should be at the top, and your rectangle should measure 3in wide by 3 1/2in long.

6. The Small rectangle you just cut will be your spoon pocket. To form the pocket, fold under about a half inch on each side, and press to stay

7. Top stitch the top of your pocket (with flaps still folded under). I used this special foot that came with my machine as a guide (if you know what its called, leave a comment to tell me please). I lined up the small size on the right with the top of my pocket.(the fold). Sorry about the bad picture, it was hard to take a good one.

8. Pin the pocket to the middle of the outside fabric. To find the center I gently folded and creased and lined up creases. You could just eyeball it, but i'm not that skilled.

9. Next, sew down pocket using the same method as the top stitch that you just made. Start stitching where the top stitch is. Hint: for the left side, start at the bottom so you can still use the foot as your guide .

10. Cut a square of scrap fabric larger than your magnet, I didnt initally measure but mine came to about 1 1/2 inch but whatever works for your size magnet. This is going to be stitched to the left side of your insul-brite to hold down your magnet. Again I used the smaller presser foot and pivoted the corners. After I did 3 sides, I slid in the magnet, and finished stitching the last side to close. This is a little tricky because when doing the last side, the magnet sticks to your throat plate.

11. Now you can stack and pin your fabric layers in this order.
Insul-Brite, With magnet facing down
Outside fabric, With pocket facing up
Inside fabric, right side down

12. Sew the top and bottom sides down using a 1/2 inch inseam. don't forget to back stitch at the beginning and end of each side. I also switched my presser foot back to the normal one for this.

13. Now you have a tube. turn it to the right side and press down so that it is nice and flat and even. Now you can top stitch the top and the bottom using the same foot as when you made the pocket. Leave about a half inch on each side that is not top stitched. (start 1/2in. in, stop with 1/2in left)

14. Take the side without the magnet next to it and turn in the fabric about a half inch to hide raw edges. Press to stay. To reduce bulk, I cut a small piece of the insul-brite out on that side. you can also do a small piece on the other side to.

15. Slide the end with the magnet in that opening about a half inch in. Pin down. Start sewing from the bottom. This is a little tricky. Be careful not to sew both sides together, because ripping seams is no fun, trust me. I tried to get a pic as i was doing this but I was having trouble at first and forgot. but here is the sewn line

16. This last step is not a must do, but I did it anywy. Go over the top stitching at the top and bottom over the seam you just made to reinforce. Mine was a little uneven at the top, and the back was a little loopy because i had to feed it through myself.

Now pat yourself on the back and take that second pint and reward yourself for a job well done.

If you dont want to eat it now, flatten it, and place it on your fridge so its ready when you need it.

Since this was created and written by me and things in my head may not make sence to other people. If you are confused by anything feel free to leave a comment and ask and I will clear it up to the best of my ability.

Tutorial: Adjustable Nursing Cover Clip

With this nifty little clip you can turn any receiving blanket into a nursing cover.Sad thing about this post is that I planned on making this before my daughter was born 5 months ago, and I am just now getting to making it, better late than never! Even though I just made it yesterday, I already love this thing because now shes at the age where she wants to just pull the blanket down. Now I can use all these receiving blankets I never use anymore.

This is my first tutorial, and even though it is really simple, I'm excited about it. I hope that it makes sense, leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Here Goes!

Grab all your supplies beforehand:

Ribbon - I used 7/8"

2 Mitten Clips - If using thicker ribbon you might need suspender clips

1 Vest Buckle - Or any other size appropriate slider hardware

Heat N Bond Ultrahold Tape

Scissors

Tape Measure or ruler

Lighter

Cutting mat is not needed, I jus thought it would make the photos look nicer

Ready, Set, GO!

Cut 20 inch piece of your ribbon and burn ends to seal and prevent fraying

 

Insert ribbon into buckle and fold over the center bar about an inch down, add a square of the Heat N Bond tape to fasten together.

Lay flat (wrong side up) and slide other ribbon end through clip. Make sure the top of your clip is facing up.

Take ribbon end down through buckle opening (from the wrong side) and back through to the other side.

String ribbon down through second clip (with clip facing up, I say this because I kept forgetting, lessons learned the hard way are so much fun...NOT)

Add another square of Heat N Bond to attach and your done! Now you can attatch it so any recieving blanket you have to use as a nursing cover.



So there it is. My first how-to. Pictures will get better, Lighting is horrable. I hope it made sence, leave a comment if I didnt, and i'll clear anything up, but it's pretty stright foward. 



Happy National Pink Day!

Today is National Pink Day!

Go Celebrate.

Eat a strawberry cupcake with pink sprinkles, blow up some pink balloons, wear a pink outfit, drink some pink lemonade, paint your toes a glittery pink, whatever you do, enjoy the day!

Jewelry Box Makeover

I found this cute jewelry box for a dollar at a yard sale. Seeing as all my jewelry is currently kept in a crayon box, I had to have it. The only bad thing was that the top fabric was hideous; well I guess you could say it was a good thing because now it looks fabulous! 

Before

After

TaDaa! What a difference. This project was originally supposed to be a tutorial but things didn’t go as planned. I got so excited to have a project because I haven’t had one in so long, I dove right in unprepared and when I tried to remove the mirror it broke in three pieces. Using what I had on hand, a box cutter and a butter knife, I should have expected it. For a while I was mad because buying a new mirror would defeat my purpose of a cheap project so to be on the positive side I just scraped it and made it work.  The rest of the project went well, sanding, painting, and a little bit of glossy Mod Podge, and a hot pink zebra fat quarter for a dollar at Wal-Mart. That’s all it took, it was a real easy project, which is good because I haven’t figured out how to balance a project, a now 3 year old, and a 4 month old.