4th of July Threads +Quilted Fish Giveaway

Its that time of year for a new outfit for the holiday.  This year is an Uncle Sam theme.  (I am using it for my Mantel too.

Wrist corsage in just the right colors.

A skirt {of course} Broad Stripes  & Bright Stars

Tuxedo styled shirt

And a Top Hat just like Uncle Sam.

I love how her outfit turned out.  And she loves it too.  Now she is ready to sport her new threads at any holiday party! 

Do you like her hat??? Want to make one of your own???

 I contacted Amanda at  The Quilted Fish. She is the designer of  "We're all Mad Here"  the pattern I used to make this hat. She designs beautiful fabric for Riley Blake and Patterns.   I found the pattern and had to have it.  It is so versatile and could be used for a bunch of holidays.  It;s going to be adorable on my mantel too.  How are you dressing your kiddos for the holidays?

Story Starters

It's summer break and the kids are out of school.  Part of me is excited and the the other part terrified.  Some days are like Ground hogs day.  Just the same day on repeat.  A Copy and Paste kind of day.  Others are exciting and fun.  With great experiences.  We have some fun things planned this summer.  Yellowstone Park, camping, visiting family, water parks and the zoo just to name a few.

I guess you could say I am a mean mom.  We have a lot of fun things planned but I also have my kids do school work during the summer.  We have workbooks to do, reading time (my boys actually like reading time) and this year story starters.

Our boys are great students and get fairly good grades.  A weakness they have is Handwriting and punctuation. (Most boys do I think???)  So in an effort to help them remember and practice these skills we have implemented Story starters.  They are given the opportunity to write a creative story each week about what they have been doing for the summer or use one of these story starters. 

This is a great way to help your kids remember those skills they have learned in school and have a creative outlet.
We just used  an old notebook they brought home from school.  Each boy has to write a 1 page story each week as part of there weekly chores.

Here are a list of the story starters I cam up with. Click on the Google link below to download and use. 

Story Starters

On the first day of Summer, I saw an alien spaceship.....

A Monkey escaped from the zoo...

I was riding my bike to a friend house when it suddenly lifted off the ground and began to float....
website
One night I was dreaming I was walking on the Moon. When I woke up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was standing.....

I woke up one morning to find an alien in my closet.....

If I were a Christmas ornament....

If I found a $1000....

If I had 3 arms....

When I grow up I want to be....

My best friend...

I tried to catch a Leprechaun. This is how I did it...

For summer break I went to....

I saw an insect as big as my Dad....

My favorite thing to do is...

My least favorite thing to do is....

If I could create my very own........ It would be.......

If I were a video game...

Scholastic also offers a story starters on there website.  They can do all types of stories in different formats.  Newspaper, poem, letter or story.  Lots to choose from.


Hope your Summer has started off with a Bang!

Recycled Bike Basket DIY

My little Miss has a bike, a tricycle and a scooter.  Funny thing is she only likes to ride the scooter and tricycle.  Originally  her tricycle had a little plate cover on the front of the handlebars.  It broke off and left that area vacant. I remember having a fun basket on the front of my bike.  I loved to put my favorite toy in the basket and go for a ride.  I saw my my orange juice container and had an idea.  Who needs to buy a basket when I can make one for free. I started with an empty Orange Juice container.

I cut the top of the orange juice container.  Just below the handle.

(In hind sight I would have punched 2 holes along 1 long side of the container.  I did mine later and it was hard to get the holes cut)

Take your fabric and measure it around the container and measure the height. 

Begin by painting a layer of modge podge onto your container. Start wrapping your fabric around the outside of the container.

Glue the edge of the fabric down.  Paint a layer of modge podge onto your fabric.  Give it a really good coat.

Fold the top fabric down to the inside.  Glue it down.

Let is dry for a while. You may want to do a second coat.

Now for the bottom. I place a lot of glue on the plastic and spread it around.   

Then start and fold it like the end of a package. Fold 2 sides and press down to stick to the glue.  

Lay more glue down and fold your last two sides down.  Cover in modge podge. Let dry

At this point I punched my holes.  I wish I had done it before covering in fabric. Measure your bike handle bars for hole placement. I also stapled around the top to secure the fabric to the plastic.  I used pom fringe to hide the staples.This would go great for a little boy and make it a super hero basket or cowboy or space man.  Whatever your little boy is into.  Fun for everyone!

To hide any graphics from the container I glammed it up.  Pom fringe and some flower cut outs. Red ribbons to tie it onto the bike and your finished.

    

Rain{Bows} from My Sister's Suitcase

Happy Bloggy Birthday Adrienne!! Nat and Holly here from My Sister's Suitcase. Adrienne is a great friend and one of our very first blog followers! We are excited to be here to celebrate with her today. We're sharing a tutorial for one of our favorite EASY hairbows for the darling girls in your life...

The "mini" felt bow.

Aren't they cute?

Covered Corkboards

Next week is Free Time Frolics Birthday.  Make sure come back and check out some great guest blogger and a fantastic giveaway!

On to this week.

Teacher Appreciation was last week and I am a little behind.  I have had this one in my cue for a while needing 1 picture.  I finally got it done.  So here is a quick easy teacher gift you can do with afew supplies from you home and a couple of dollar store items.

Supplies

Piece of Cork

Frame

Spray paint (optional)

Spray Adhesive

Tacks

Buttons to Cover

Fat quarter or enough fabric to cover your cork

E6000 Glue

Glue Gun w/ Glue

Frame backing or foam core

2 or 3 fabric scraps (2x2 squares) for tacks

Start by spray painting your frame is you are changing its color.  This can be drying while you make the inside.

Start by Cutting your cork to the inside size of your frame.  Take fabric and cut it 1 inch larger around cork.  Iron your fabric nice and flat to get out wrinkles.

Spray adhesive onto wrong side of fabric.  Layer cork and frame backing onto fabric. Flip over to ensure the fabric is nice and flat.

Glue fabric around foam core and cork. On Wrong side. 

Your inside board is done. Now for the tacks

 Use the buttons covered found in the sewing accessories in the fabric department.  I chose the smaller size but you can use whatever you want.  Follow the instructions on the back of the package to cover your buttons.

Once you have made your buttons you need to cut off the button shanks to give you a flat surface to glue the tacks on. 

Glue your tacks on the backs of your buttons with E6000 Glue.  They will need to dry over night. 

Next

Place your wrapped cork into the frame.

Add your tacks and your done.

This is a quick project you can make in an hour or so and easy for the kids to help.  Wrap it up and your ready to go. Use it for a teacher gift, kids bedroom, family command center or anywear you need to cover some space.

Enjoy!

Basket Purse

I found this little basket bag at target in the dollar section.  My target sold out of them but thy just got some.  So hurry over and grab one.  My little girl is a girly girl who love to play with the boys.  So I gave her a girly bag for her dolls and cars.

Here is what you need:

Basket bag

5 x 45 inches of fabric

Tim Tex stabilizer about 10 inches

I started with the basket and 5 inches of fabric. The fabric will measure 5 x 45 inches. Fold in half and iron. Next I stitched a basting stitch along the raw edges.

Pull the bottom thread to lightly gather the fabric.

Cut your tim tex into a 5 inch circle. Start with your glue gun from the outside edge of your Tim Tex. Working around until you have reached center.

Once you reach center fold your raw edge and tuck it into your flower. Add a button. I just glued mine in.

This is what it looks like from behind.  I used some hot glue to attache it to my bag.

Super simple.

It's perfect size form my little miss.  She fills the bag and off to the park.

Linking up too:

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