7 minute throw pillow Tutorial

Last time I was in the States I wanted to get some cute throw pillows.

  I was shocked...appalled...{down-right} outraged

 at the extreme prices for just little pieces of fancy material sown into squares!

I mean, come on, I'm no seamstress but it can't be that much work to make 4 straight lines.

Well, I have this little sister.... let's call her "Monica".
'cause that's her name.

Every now and then she says something {brilliant} that makes everyone pause and ask,
 "who said that?"

Monica said, "why don't you just buy fabric placemats and make them throw pillows?"

{light bulb}

Here's how I did it.
1. I found 2 beautiful fabric placemats originally $12...on sale for $4!
2. Make sure it has double fabric...one for the front and one for the back....{giggle}.
3. Carefully cut a small straight slit....DON'T cut through both layers!  I filled it with the stuffin' from an old pillow.  With a needle and thread hand sew the opening close.  OR....I may or may not have just overlapped it and hot glued it.
4. I ran a needle and thread through a pretty piece of lace (I had a little piece of blanket binding that I was in love with and had to use) to make gathers.  Any lace would do.  With my trusty glue gun I arranged the lace to hide the filling opening and....voila....it is done!

Have a lovely day,

Washable finger paint recipe

 

After this we all ate some {red} koolaid popsicles in our handy dandy popsicle maker that memaw bought. Then we washed it all off of US with the water hose.  It is so hot here that I scandalized the neighbors again by being the "crazy white woman" playing with her kids with the water hose.

This is the 2nd time we've painted with this and amazingly it comes clean!

from hot and sunny Jamaica,

Spring Bunny Garland

My friend Nicole, who is a missionary wife in Haiti, told me once she makes holidays "BIG".

  This really stuck with me.

You're away from home, away from family, and all the buzz that goes on for American holidays,

 so use this time to have fun with your family.

My kids love when we make new decorations for the holidays each month.  

We have been working on the program for our Resurrection Sunday at Valley Baptist Church.

  The kids are working hard on their song and memory verses.

Spring is coming in the States and so I wanted something to remind us

 of the new leaves, baby animals, and chirping birds.

  We decided on this Spring Bunny Garland.

This was super duper easy...let me tell you!

I had this awesome glittery scrapbook paper that I've been hoarding for {literally} years.

When I got it out of my closet there were the appropriate "ohhhs and ahhhs"

 when a girl sees something sparkly. {so fun}

Princess Alexis traced bunny shapes on the backside of the paper with a cookie cuter.

I cut them out and then let the girls pick out a sparkly diamond to make little "tails" with.

We fired up the ol' glue gun.

  Stuck the tails on, then glued the bunnies on a bright strip of rick rack ribbon!

Looks so cute and sparkly hanging across my cabinet!  My girls really enjoy all the colors catching the sunshine.

simple hair dos and truffles from 2011

I thought I'd put together all of the posts, from 2011,
 that I received the most comments and emails from.
This first hairstyle started getting pinned on Pinterest.

  And then received almost 4,000 clicks back to raising4princesses blog!

Braided Updo

Cake Batter Truffles

 Triple Updo

Indian Princess Hairdo

{awesome} homemade laundry mousse

Princess Chore List

French Princess Hairdo

Snazzy Match the Colors Activity

You Are My Inspiration Board

Princess Rope Twist Hairdo

Have a lovely day, but don't forget there's church tomorrow.

  Start the new year out right!

{awesome} Homemade Laundry Mousse

ok, I'm kind of a "hands on" girl

squishy textures amuse me
fluffy, puffy textures draw me
silky, smooth textures comfort me
get the picture?

I've been wanting to make homemade laundry soap for a LONG time.
I've searched high and low for items like Borax and Washing Soda here on the Island.
Finally I had to resort to having my {wonderful} family bring me some.  Soooo, after months and literally months of waiting I was able to finally do it!

I've read many, many different recipes on line but I would keep coming back to the recipe I found here.  Mainly 'cause her's had an awesome fluffy texture.  Like cool whip.  That was just too awesome for me to pass up!

Here's what I used:
2 bars of soap     I tried regular bath bar soap..worked just fine  Then I tried the Jamaican blue bar soap (kinda like Fels Naptha but it's blue)  used here in Jamaica for cleaning...a lot of stuff.  I preferred the blue one and since it's soooo cheap, I'm gonna keep using that.
2 cups 20 Mule Team Borax
2 cups Washing Soda (not baking soda)

So my m-i-l and I whipped up 2 batches of this while she was here last week.  She did most of the work, I just took pictures!  {aren't moms wonderful?}

Heat up 6 cups of water until it's hot and steamy...but not boiling!

Stir...stir....stir!

it might take longer for different types of soap or depending on how big your shavings are

stir for about 3 minutes

you'll need 4 quart jars

divide liquid up between the jars

the recipe said "fill up leaving about 1 1/2 inches at the top"

my jars were bigger then quart so I measured a quart and marked my jar with a fill line

screw the lids on them

now here's the hard part...let it sit for 8 hours!

after you whip them, pour it back into the jar and tighten the lid

I've been really impressed

The recipe said only use 2 T.  I said, "there's no way"  so I added 4!

Next load I added 3!

Next load I added 2!  {shame face}

I have dirty sweaty kids and a handsome hardworking man.  

The clothes are getting clean and I'm saving a ton of moolah!  I feel so proud of myself.

count your blessing

#7 mosquito spray

#8 a working fridge

#9 old hymns

match the colors Activity

sure wish I could think of a snazzier name then that.  {snap}  I got it!
The SNAZZY Match the Colors Activity!

First, here's a little eye candy.  Don't all these bright colors catch your attention?

I saw this idea on Crayon and Freckles Blog and Loved it.  A big thank you to that sweet mommy!

I'm a very hands on teacher.  I'm a visual learner myself so I love touching, feeling, etc.  If you want to teach me to do something....show me first.  I'm not sure what my kids are, but they do really well with hands on activities.

Here is my version.

We used tongs, salad tongs, and tweezers to try and pick them up.
I had thought to use this for my 3 year old, but my 5 and 7 year olds loved it just as much.

BRIGHT IDEA: Try to time them as they separate the colors.  See if they can go faster each time.
or
Make a pattern with the pom-poms and have them put what color should come next.

Off to play with my new SNAZZY (that sure is a fun word to say!) game,

(Princess Brynlee and Drago)

Fancy Slippers Tutorial

I'm supposed to be cleaning the house.  {ugh}

We're having a group of teenagers over tonight for a youth meeting. 

Very fun.

To do something different for them, we're having a little bonfire with hotdogs and smores.  

I felt that wonderful twinge of inspiration this morning, 

so I squeezed in a quick "Do With What You Got Project".  

Enjoy

I saw some adorable flip-flops on line today.  

Price tag was $25.00 plus shipping = nope

I started thinking about my old flip flops picked up from Wal-Mart 

for around $3 

(I think that's how much I paid...

seriously, it's been a long time since I graced the aisles 

at good ol' Wallie World)

I already had these beads left over from making necklaces.

To finish it off, I tied a knot several times and

 tucked the end back through several beads, then trimmed.

Note: I did put a dab of glue under the big beads to keep them in place.

I'll spare you the pictures of my funny looking' feet {grimace}

i'm in love with my Seahorse Stand

Ok, it's pretty obvious 

 I'm addicted to anything a little "fishy"  

I'm blaming it on the salty sea air

This took a lot

hours and hours

days and days 

of sanding to make it properly stripped.

SIDE NOTE: Do you know what happens when you sand wood

in 90 deg

with a slight breeze 

stirring the hot air

 blowing the sawdust back on your glistening skin? 

 I looked like I got in a fight with a bottle of cheap tanning lotion.  

Isn't Prince such a dear?  

Have you ever seen the I Love Lucy episode 

where Ethel tells Lucy 

the best way to get a husband to do something is 

attempt to do it yourself 

and they step in to make sure it's done right?  

BINGO.

Just looking at her now makes me smile...and smile....and smile.  

My sister helped me pick the color and it is soooo perfect.

Can you believe I found these seahorse drawer pulls here?  

I know...wow.  

I had resigned to buying some knobs off ebay 

and waiting for a visitor to bring them.  

When we were in the hardware store choosing the paint I stumbled on these.  

{deep sigh}  Thank you, Lord.

Somewhere on a crafty blog, 

I saw a lady lined her drawers with really nifty paper.

Cute, huh?  I didn't "thunk" it up myself.

 I stored the idea in the back of my 

way-to-crowded memory 

and {again} I love the way it looks.

Loving life,

If you don't remember the other project I made with this discarded treasure you can find it in my You Are My Inspiration Board post.
Making the World Cuter Blog