For Mother’s Day I decided to grow my mom a pot of Basil. Both her and my dad love Basil and they are always buying bunches of it at the store…so I thought it would be something fun and easy that she would enjoy {and hopefully I can go over and enjoy  it too next time they make a nice big plate of yummy tomato and basil bruschetta…mmm.}

Anyhow, I wanted to make a cute garden marker to go in her pot and I found these awesome ones on ETSY but they were a bit pricey so I thought I would make my own…good idea right :-) RIGHT!

So here is what you need:

• old spoons, forks, or knives (I got mine at Deseret Industries for .25 cents each)
• 1/8″ steel letter stamp set (I got mine at Harbor Freight, it was $7.99)
• black permanent marker
• hammer
• an old rag

The First Step: Flatten your spoon or fork with a hammer. {This is the fun part so don’t let your husband do it for you…} Also make sure you use an old rag to protect your spoon from getting too dinged up.

Second Step: Use your black permanent marker to mark where you will want your letters to be. Don’t worry if you mess up…the marker will wipe right off with a little water and you can try, try, try again…

Step Three: Use your new stamp set and hammer the letters onto your spoon. I would recommend practicing a bit before hand to get the hang of it. (I messed up about 3 spoons before I got it right.) I found that if you hit the stamp multiple times it can be hard to keep the stamp steady and it just messes up the letters.

oh…poor little spoon…the R got all messed up….sniff sniff:

After much practice I found that the best way was to just hit it once really hard…oh, and make sure you use that old rag underneath so you don’t scuff up your concrete, or the back of the spoon. oops. :-)

Ah, much better:

The Final Step: Now, just wipe off the excess marker using your old rag and some water…

then stick it in your pot and VOILA!

Oh, and then of course you have to make some more :-)

And then your kids have to decorate the ones you messed up on:

(-: HAVE A HAPPY DAY :-)

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Creations By Kara 
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Somewhat Simple

So, I can’t take all of the credit for this cute Origami Bookmark…since I didn’t actually make the origami beads. {Though…I did make a big bead (that was about the size of a tennis ball)…so I do kind of know how it could be done if one really wanted to try to fold one using itty bitty teenie weenie paper.}

Anyhow, one of my cousins made a bunch of these origami beads for us to make earrings out of at our family Easter party (you can find a TUTORIAL HERE). But instead of making earrings {which I probably wouldn’t have worn…since the colors are just a tad bit bright} I decided to turn mine into a beaded bookmark.

I absolutely LOVE it! Makes me want to go read ;-)

smile.

I know. I know. St. Patrick’s Day is tomorrow and uh, yeah, I’m just barely getting around to decorating. (’cause I’m cool like that. :-) About a month ago, I had great intentions, when I saw this awesome split pea wreath on pinterest and decided that I definitely needed to make one for my entryway. So I ran out and bought all the stuff I needed and then it sat on my counter for a few weeks until 2 days ago when I decided that it HAD to be finished! Oh well…at least I’m trying. ha ha.

So here is what you need: 

2 or 3 bags of split peas (I think I paid $1.25 ea)

1 Wreath base (purchased at Hobby Lobby with 40% off coupon for about $2.40)

2 bottles of Elmer’s glue (I ran out and had to run back for more…it takes a lot…each bottle was about $1.50)

Then all you do is glue, glue, glue. And when your hands get sticky and you get tired you just hand it over to your 5 year old and let her glue, glue. glue. I was very VERY happy for her help. I might not have finished without her. :-)

I had to take a couple breaks, and let it dry for a few hours and then start again. Overall it didn’t take that much time, but it sure was messy! After we got all of the split peas glued on and let them completely dry, I made a mixture of 50% water/50% glue and covered the whole thing with a nice layer of it so that the peas wouldn’t fall off when it was hanging up.

Didn’t it turn out cute!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everybody!!! ;-)

Well, I finally finished my second knit hat…the one my son was begging me to make for him.  {ha ha} I think it turned out WAY better than my first hat, and I liked this pattern a lot more…it fit more snug around the head, where the other one seemed a bit too loose. Anyhow, I’m glad I was brave and gave a different pattern a go…eek.

You can find the FREE PATTERN FOR THIS HAT HERE!

I could definitely use a little more practice though keeping my stitches all the same…I got a little sloppy up on the top :-)

Oh well, my little guy loves it, and I love that he loves it. Makes me want to knit up a couple more :-) Maybe one in red? hmmm. 

Happy Valentine’s Day everybody! Isn’t it such a nice day! I am excited because today I get to go help out with the party for my daughter’s Kindergarten class. Perhaps I’ve been procrastinating just a tad bit since I just finished up this fun matching game this morning. yah…I know. Anyhow, I thought it turned out cute…

And what exactly are they matching together??? Site words of course. ha ha.

Anyhow, hope that you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day! XOXO

How fun! Today I got to play with flowers…which is ultimately one of my very MOST favorite things to do! I haven’t been able to play with any since way back in July when I did some wedding flowers for my cute sister-in-law. Anyhow, this go around…I was just making a corsage for my husbands cousin who is going to a dance tomorrow. cute. I remember back in the day going to dances…ha ha. Anyhow, just thought I’d share a few pictures!

Didn’t it turn out lovely!

Hope he has fun at the dance!!! :)