Soctopus!!!!

I was cruising on Top Mommy Blogs last night looking at some of the different DIY Mommy blogs out there, for inspiration, ideas, and just something to do while my household slept and I suffered from insomnia.  I found the cutest idea on a child's toy, ran it by Babydoll this morning and we created it tonight after dinner!

Here is the link to the original blog post but I am going to show how we made ours too!!

http://thegoldjellybean.com/

Forget about the old school too adorable sock monkey ( I love them and all my kids have a couple of them) make a new, fun, and adorable Soctopus!!!!

Supplies:

• Sock (we used knee high socks) I have A LOT of knee high socks already ( I have a weird obsession with them) but we went to Target today and found some really cute summer colored ones so we bought those. $2.50....$1.25 per Soctopus
• Stuffing...I have a baby crib bumper we don't use so I just used some of the stuffing from that, but I bet cotton balls would work perfectly fine (to prevent you from buying anything) going to try that with the next one!
• Pipe cleaners (optional)....have loads of these but you can buy them at the Dollar Tree or any craft section for super cheap.
• Needle and Thread....you could just tie it off with string but I wanted to keep it stuffed as long as possible.
• Pom Pom's...again I had these on hand but you can also find tons of these cheap.
• Felt...a marker would work, or any kind of fabric or string, be creative with what you have on hand
• Hot Glue Gun and Hot Glue.....I like the durability it offers, but again try anything you have on hand!

First I let the kiddos stuff the toes of the sock with the stuffing:

They stuck around for a little while after this then ran off to play Barbie meets Batman (long story) shortly after! LOL

I then used a running stitch to secure the stuffing in the toe of the sock, I just ran it around the base of the stuffing a few times, pulled tight and tied it off:

I then used a pipe cleaner to measure how long I needed the sock to be, Hannah ran away with the bottom part of the sock and wore it as a bracelet for rest of the evening :)

I cut along both sides of the sock to separate it into front and back panels:

I then layered the top and bottom panels together and cut the sock almost to the neck line, making four long cuts, totaling out to be eight long strips.

This step is optional, you can glue pipe cleaners into the eight strips so that your Soctopus will have bendy legs, I had pipe cleaners on hand so I went ahead with it!

 

At first I was running hot glue along the pipe cleaner and then folding the strips around it, but I kept burning myself, and was getting glue all over my cute polka dot acrylic nails (I normally don't get my nails done, these are from the wedding) so I changed it to a dab of glue at the top, twist the fabric around the pipe cleaner a few dabs of glue along the way and one at the end...much faster, and less painful LOL

Wrap the legs around your finger to make them fun looking, add pom pom eyes and a cute little felt mouth and there you go your very own

SOCTOPUS!!!!

I had fun making it, remember the kids abandoned me early on, but when I was done the kids loved them now we just have to think of some names! :)

Well that was the quickest 24 hours ever....

Saturday was the wedding!!! It was a fantastic day, filled with a few problems but so much happiness! My children made me so proud, they did so well.   Everyone commented on how beautiful everything was, and how they couldn't believe that I made most of it. I honestly didn't have any freak out moments and just enjoyed the day with my closest family and friends.  I of course don't have any of the professional pictures back but I do have a few from some of the guests.  The honeymoon was a two day stay in Cave City KY we wanted to be close to the kiddos but still have fun.  KY has the largest cave system in the world called Mammoth caves, over 500 miles of caves...Jerm and I are very activity driven we don't want to sit on beaches LOL.  So here are some of the pictures from the guests at the wedding!!

Monkey ( our oldest ) walking me down

I really like this one

Master Key ceremony: each member of our family placed a skeleton key on a master key ring for our family, our version of the sand and/or candle ceremony.

First Dance

Mother/Son Dance 

Father/Daughter Dance

 Getting the garter!

Tossing said garter

Bouquet toss, these flowers were made by Hannah and Garrett 

Cutting the cake

Jenga guest book, flowers on basket are the ones that Hannah and Garrett made all by themselves along with the bouquet of flowers in the background!!

Card Box

Monkey all dressed up, so handsome!

Bubby looking too sweet!!

Babydoll my beautiful flower girl!!

baby Boogie looking adorable!

So that was our beautiful day, it wasn't the fanciest or the most expensive but it was perfect for us, and we enjoyed every moment of it!!

Oh My.....

The countdown is down to four days until the Wedding, I am a little stressed, a little nervous, and above all extremely excited!!!!  My oldest son and mom fly in on Thursday ( he was at grandparents house for the summer, and she lives in Oklahoma) , and her best friend will be driving in on Thursday also!!  The other day I took a break from wedding details and focused a little on this blog.  Well I came across a whole lot of other DIY, inspirational, and many other types of blogs on my break day.  I found a hundred and one ideas for crafts I would love to do, organization that I need to try, and just helpful hints for everything under the sun it seemed.  This morning I was looking around my house and OH MY......... My normally decently clean house, organized house is a total disaster and I have bunches of family and friends coming in FOUR days!! It doesn't help that I have been picking up extra shifts at work, to fortify us when I will be on vacation.

I am not going to let this stress me too bad, I am going to get the house in decent order and worry more about the wedding, and having a great time with family and friends.  After the wedding is a whole new story...I am going to go cleaning, organizing crazy!!!!  Plus the three older kids will be going back to school within a week or two which means I will have all the freedom to do this during the hours of 7am-3pm LOL well, the baby will be with me but it's never to early to learn!!!

I did find one tip that made me want to smack myself on the forehead in one of those "DUH" moments....full hands in and out!!  I work part time as a server/waitress (while working on my BA) at a widely known steak house and we do this at work.  When entering/leaving the server line you always have full hands in and out, basically always run food, and pre-bus tables.  Use this at home, anytime you exit a room grab a few items that don't belong in there, and take them where they belong, so you are constantly tidying up but not taking up too much time!!!  I have done this today while doing everyday activities and you wouldn't believe how much has been picked up.

Really WOW!!!

I haven't been doing this long...blogging!  Heck half the time I still think that I have no idea what I am doing. I love blogging though, it's a nice, fun way for me to be creative and share about it.  Sadly I don't have too many followers and I was trying to figure out a way to get myself "out" there. Who wants to write, and no one read it :( lol.  I submitted my blog to a site that promotes "mommy" blogs for approval...and I got accepted! I am amazed! Head on over there ( click the banner) and by doing so not only will you find so many inspirational, funny, crafty, and just plain fun blogs but you will be exposing mine a little more. Thanks!!! :)

Ants....I just can't stand them!!!

In Kentucky you end up with ants everywhere during the summer!!! In the weirdest of places and of course the places you would expect them.  I despise ants, they are the bane of my existence most summer months.  Ok, that may be a little extreme, but they really do annoy me!!  One day while enjoying my timed pintrest fun (yes I set a timer otherwise I lose all track of time) I found a recipe to kill the little boogers.  I want to share this...need to share this for all those other unfortunate souls who are going ant crazy!!!

Ingredients:

Yield:4cups

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons boric acid
• 3 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Mix the sugar and Boric Acic well.
2. Add the warm water slowly, mixing all the while so it won't be too lumpy.
3. Store in a jar.
4. When ready to use, put cotton into the top of a jar lid to fill it, and then saturate the cotton to the top.
5. Place where you want it; make several if you need it.
6. Will keep for a long while.
7. NOTE: I usually drip a drop or two over the edge of the lid to rest on the counter so they will find it sooner.
8. It sometimes takes a little while for them to find it, but find it they will.
9. When they do, let them alone; you will want to kill them because they look so creepy; but don't because they will hang over the edge of the lid and drink, drink, drink, and then take it back to the nest.
10. Almost over night, they will be gone.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/get-rid-of-ants-ants-ants-203233#ixzz20ZL3mGke

The Pinrest picture led me to the site above.  So I followed the directions, except I have a basket of random sock and since we were gone all day, and I ran out of containers, well yeah some socks got used :)  I have two cats, they sniffed one container and left it alone, but  I would still be careful where you placed it!!

This is what I found when I got home, and the white socks well they were almost black.....it is very hard not to kill them all....they are just sitting there easy targets and all....but they need to take that back to the hill, so for now there they stay.....I will update on how it works!!!

UPDATE:

After about 24 hours I no longer have ants in my laundry room ( where the cat food is) there are none on my computer table, (where I have a tendency to spill drinks on the floor) and there are very very few in my living room and kitchen, I say success!!! I think that I am going to put these little containers down each night till they are all gone! 

Ribbon Flowers and Aligator clips

I have been using this tutorial I found on you tube to make a lot of Ribbon roses and just thought that I would share the video.  I will, and have been using them in a lot of crafts, and since I used someone else's video to learn, why would I make my own video...plus this way she gets the credit for showing me how lol. Sometimes I use ribbon and sometimes I just cut fabric into strips of ribbon, with the fabric you have to hem the edges or glue them so you don't get the little frayed fabric, but I like the frayed fabric look sometimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53sVo-K6peg

I used some of the flowers recently to make hair clips for the wedding but you can easily make these for any little girl in your life for any reason.  I have two little girls so I know that making hair clips is A LOT cheaper then buying them!!!

I used alligator clips on the back of the bow and flowers to turn them into a hair clip, but who wants to see a shiny silver hair clip on the back of a pretty flower or ribbon?  I found a video on......you tube, yup you guessed it on how to cover these little clips, now in the video she only covers one side, but I do both sides basically repeating the process for the top side on the bottom side.  I just like it that way better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBoegPHSaYY

Now have fun saving some money on girls hair clips.....goodness knows we spend tons of money on them as is :)

DIY Tutu Dress

My wedding has a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme, I know most people use it for bridal shower themes and what not, but I have always loved Audrey Hepburn!!! I couldn't really have a My Fair Lady theme, so I went with Breakfast at Tiffany's. I found this adorable tutu dress inspiration on pintrest and just knew that I had to make it for my youngest daughter Boogie to wear to the wedding.

Source
Very Breakfast at Tiffany's!!!!

I found this wonderful no sew tutorial on youtube that I used for inspiration on how to make a Tutu, and just made it a little longer than you would make the normal Tutu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTXo6uv9HxA

• Tulle...I was going to buy it at Wal Mart but I found rolls of black tulle (10ft) at Micheals on sale and it was cheaper, plus I only had to cut the length not the width!  ($8.00 total)
• Ribbon...I used one of Boogies little summer dresses for measurements (already had this)
• I added a black satin under layer that I just sewed to the ribbon after adding all the tulle, I thought that the tulle may be too itchy for Boogie and that she wouldn't like wearing it.  Now it is super soft. ($3.00 a yard) I also used the left over fabric to make the ring pillow!

Total cost: $11.00

I simply followed the instructions from the video, added the layer of satin and there you go Boogie's wedding dress was done!!!

I love how the light allows the under layer to show through, and it looks like a sleek little black dress underneath!!! 100% Audrey Hepburn LOL

OH and we cant forget the little shoes that she will be wearing with the dress!!!

I have a thing for converse!!


Here she is on the wedding day, she wore a layered pearl and ribbon necklace, and a Tiffiany Blue ribbon hair clip with the dress but not for long so I cant find any pictures with the full out fit Yet LOL

*Update*

I got some more photos back and I found this one, Boogie is a little under two, and not a model so of course my pictures aren't as perfect as the inspiration.  I still get compliments on this outfit all the time, you could really see it better in person!

You can see where the tule wasn't fixed and the necklace was coming off, but honestly with this kid I was just glad she wasn't taking her clothes off down the aisle!!!

The Ring Pillow

I needed to make a pillow that matched the flower girl basket and I wanted to do it cheap, so I started looking for pillows that I could cover.  If it came down to it I knew I could actually make the pillow itself but I really didn't want to. I found a pillow that was intended as a baby decorative pillow and thought that it was the perfect size, plus it was only a dollar so all good on the cheap front. :)

Thrift store pillow before:

• Pillow $1.00
• Fabric...I found a pretty black satin for $3.00 a yard and I bought a yard and a half of it, but  because I need it to line Boogie's tutu dress, that tulle is super itchy!!
• Ribbon, this I have a huge supply of due to everything that I am using it for but I used 22 in of 5/8 inch ribbon (Tiffany Blue) @ $2.50 a spool (10 ft spool) ...and 13 inch of 3/8 inch ribbon (White)..also leftover but $2.50 a spool.(10 ft spool)
• Fabric Rose that I made myself 
• Needle and Thread
• Hot glue gun and glue

Total: $4.00 but that is including the fabric, and I am using most of it for Boogie's dress liner.

I started by measuring the pillow then I cut the fabric with a two inch hem line.  The pillow has this nice edging so I simply sewed the fabric straight to the pillow around this edging.  I flipped the pillow over and then repeated the process.  I probably could have found a better way to do this, but I hand sew, my sewing machine and I have issues.....we need therapy!! This was the easiest way for me that doesn't include making basically a pillow case...too much room for error on my part that way!

Fabric sewn directly to the pillow:

I then wanted to add the ribbon accent to the pillow. I am having a really hard time finding this color ribbon in anything wider than 5/8 inch so I thought that if I sewed the ribbon in two pieces side by side that would give me the wider look that I was going for.  I meant to bunch the ribbon in the middle but yeah it was late and I forgot to and didn't think about it till the hot glue was down.  I sewed the ribbon on one edge, then hot glued it across the pillow then sewed the other edge.  It was easy and gave me the look I was going for...well sorta LOL without the scrunching. 

Ribbon accent:

We are not actually tying the rings to this pillow, too many chances of problems.  They may come untied then we have to hunt for them, they may get knotted up...ect.  I wanted the little ribbon ties though so I used my 3/8 inch white ribbon and simply hot glued it to the center of the pillow.

Ring Ties...that we won't use :)

I made a rose using some leftover white Satin fabric then hot glued it over the ring ties to give it that slightly elegant and finished look.  I am really getting good at these roses you should have seen my first few attempt ha ha.

Fabric Rose added for a finished look:

I am really pleased and proud of my DIY Ring Pillow and Flower Basket, I honestly will get ideas in my head about how to make something and sometimes they are a little disappointing as a finished project but then sometimes I am wowed that I actually made that....they come out way better than I thought I could accomplish.  These two projects are a surprisingly wow did I really make that project!! :)

Flower Basket and Ring Pillow:

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The Flower Girl Basket

I needed a flower girl basket for Babydoll, I wanted something simple, but something that looked elegant all at the same time.  Our wedding colors are Black White and Tiffany Blue (which is practically a teal color) I was out at thrift stores and came across this basket.....figured it would be perfect!!!

 I like it because it is light weight, not too big, but not small either, so I got some supplies together and got to work!!!  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures along the way but it is really really simple to do.  I need to get better about taking pictures.

 

• Basket...thrift store $2.00
• Spray paint of your color....I also used the cheap stuff as a primer but that is just so I wouldn't have to use so much of the good stuff. Already had this but normally $5.00
• Ribbon...I used a 3/8 inch ribbon, but you could probably go bigger if you wanted.  Again, already had this from other projects but depending on the color and size it can range from $1.00 to $4.00
• Hot Glue and Hot Glue Gun
• 1 1/2 inch of fabric of your choice about 2 FT long...I used a satin like white fabric,I didn't hem it because I like the stray little fabric fly away things!  Already had the fabric!!

                                      Total Cost $2.00 :)

1. First I primed the basket with the cheap spray paint, let it dry then gave it a good couple coats with the Krylon.
2. When the basket was finished I attached the ribbon to the handle and hot glued it in place, I honestly don't know the length of the ribbon but it hangs off 5 in on each side.
3. I attached the little rosettes to the handle using hot glue...the Rosettes are made from that 2 ft fabric.....I need to take a step by step picture show of how to make those!

  That's it and my flower girl basket is done!!