Temple Plaque

A friend of mine is in charge of the Super Saturday activity for our ward. She text me a picture of a temple plaque she liked and wanted to do and asked if I could be willing to make the display. Now, here is the picture she sent me. I want to state this plaque is not my work. It looks like she got it from Pintrest but she only sent me the picture not a link.

Cute huh! Well I decided to change it up a bit. So I stated with a 12x12 board. I lathered that bad boy up with mod podge and slapped on a pretty piece of paper. Then another sister in our ward skipped down to the Dallas temple, we are after all living in Dallas, and took a lovely picture which we printed in a 5x7. Stuck that to the board with some ribbon and a pretty flower and it was done, or maybe not. I wanted to distressing effect so I bought a Timber color ink pad and "antiqued" the edges. I didn't want to put the words in mine because I loved it how it was. But..., I felt bad making that decision on my own so I cut some vinyl on my silhouette. I started putting the vinyl on and after the word temple was in TOTALLY decided against it. You can hardly see it anyway. So here it is. When I get it back I think I'm going to take the word temple off. But we'll see. Anyway, this one IS my design. 

I really like it and can't wait to display it in the house.

Love,

Alisha x x

Prayer Blocks

I decided to get extra crafty this week and on Tuesday I did two crafts. Here is the first.... Prayer Blocks.

I bought this dresser the other day for CHEAP!! It was ugh!! Cracks in the paint chips in the wood, but it had potential. So I refinished it and then needed something to go on top. I bought a few things but it didn't feel quiet complete so I made these prayer blocks.

The top block is a 5"x5" square and the bottom are 5"x7" I just covered them with scrap booking paper, sanded it all down and then cute the words out on my silhouette. I really love it. I love the saying especially.

If anyone is looking for some this saying in Vinyl I would be happy to cut it for you just email me alisha@homemakinghoneys.com and we can sort something out.

Material Covered Canvas

I recently decided I needed some wall art for my room.

For this project I just used

4 8x10 canvases
Left over material
Spray adhesive
Black ribbon
Wooden letters which I painted black
Glue gun


I cut the material to match the size of the canvas. Then using the spray adhesive I glued the material to the canvas.

Next I hot glued the ribbon and the letters onto the canvas and that's it. This project was so easy and only took about 40 minutes from start to finish.

What do you think?

Bar Stool Recover

You know that feeling when you finally find something you've been looking for. Something you've wanted for what feels like ages but the right fit or in my case the right price never comes up? Well that was me and bar stools. I've wanted some for our kitchen bar since we moved back to the US but I could never find any the right height or more commonly the right price. That was until last week. I came across someone who was selling two for $15. I was so excited I didn't even try to talk her down. This week I bought some fabric and tonight while my lovely hubby was watch The Avengers for the 3rd time this week, he's a Marvel fanboy!, I recovered the bar stools. All I have left to do is put some clear vinyl in them.... I know, I know only Granny's cover their furniture with plastic. I may not be a Granny but I have got 4 small messy children. I'm going to cover in plastic for my sanity. :-)

Pretty Flower Hairclips

This afternoon I was in the store about to buy some really cute hair clips for both my baby and my 7 year old when I decided to stop and look at how they were made. Oh. My. Word. I couldnt believe just how easy these things looked to make. I had to hang them back up on the rack because there was no way I was going to spend any amount of money on something I could make here at home. So I came home and while my husband was out at a meeting I decided to Have a go. They were so easy. I thought I would share them with you.

Right so to start with I just got some scraps of fabric. You can get any colors you want and it doesnt have to be a lot.

I then folded the scraps so that I had 8 layers.





Next I traced around the bottom of a small cup a circle and cut the circle out which left me with 8 small circles.



I then folded the circles in half one at a time.....



And then in half again. I did put a little hot glue on this fold to keep it together like this.

Next I hot glued each triangle to a little piece of felt all in a circle. This took 4 of the little triangles.

I then glued the other four on top of the first four over the seams, so as to cover them up.

I then glued a button to the center of the flower.




Next I flipped the flower over....



And hot glued a long rectangle to the back, ONLY THE EDGES. This way I only need one hair clip and can interchange the flowers on that one clip.

That is it! So easy! So Cute! And so CHEAP!! What do you think? Im going to try it with all different types of fabric. Cant wait!

Handmade Puppets

This week my 7 year old decided it was time for her to learn how to sew. We decided it would be fun for her to learn a few hand sewing stitches so we went to the craft store and bought a few things to make a couple of puppets. Can I just tell you how proud I was of my little girl. When we walked out of the craft store she looked up into my eyes, which isnt a far look up since she is almost as tall as I am :), and said Mummy, in her cute little british accent which I could never pull off being American, You know the craft store is just like a bit of Heaven to me. I think I literally wiped a tear of joy off my cheek as I squeezed her :)

Anyway enough sappy proud mommy moments. We decided to make a moneky puppet this week. Next week its a Zebra. Im going to put step by step instructions here and have to apologise in advance for the lack of pictures. See because I was helping her sew hers and sewing one for my little boy at the same time I didnt really get a chance to take many pictures, but next week when we do the Zebra I will try harder!

Here is what you will need:



Dark brown A4 felt x 4
Cream A4 felt x 1
Light brown A4 felt x 1
Contrasting felt for inner ears and accessories
Embroidery thread
Embroidery needle
Eyes
Scissors


Monkey Puppet Instructions:

1. Using the template cut out all the required pieces.

2. Sew the inner ears to the outer ears then sew the tummy onto the body and sew the arms together.

3. Put the ears in place (as marked) between the face and back pieces of felt. Pin all layers together and then sew using a simple overstitch.

4. Fold the mouth piece in half and stitch along folded edge with a running stitch. This prevents the mouth opening too wide and getting stuck.

5. Sew the bottom lip to the body (B to B), then the top lip to the nose (A to A).

6. Lay the body on top of the back and line up the nose with the face (C to C), overlapping the felt by about 1cm. The body will be longer than the back at the base of the puppet.

7. Stitch the nose to the face then attach the eyes. You can use buttons, felt shapes, beads or teddy bear eyes. Note: where you place the eyes really alters the character of the puppet.

8. Start sewing each side of the body together inserting the arms about 5 cm down from the mouth.

9. Decorate your puppet by making hats, necklaces, glasses or other accessories of your choice.

Doesnt my little moneky just look so happy with his little monkey? ;)

Valentines Topiary Tree

Here is another Valentines Day craft and tutorial I have been working on recently.

Valentines Day Topiary

What you need:

Small Styrofoam Ball
Medium or Large Styrofoam Ball
Wood Dowel
Ribbon about 2 - 3 yards about 1 inch wide
Sequin Pins
Moss
small metal pail

Cut the ribbon into 2 inch strips. Pin one strip on the very top of the Large Styrofoam Ball.

Fold the sides of a piece of ribbob down so that it makes a triangle and pin this to the styrofoam ball. Starting at the top. Continue this step all the way around the styrofoam ball one row at a time. When you pin each row you will be covering the pins which are showing from the previous row.

The ribbon folded into a triangle on the top

A side view of how I was pinning the ribbon to the styrofoam ball
A top view

Another Top View

At the bottom of the styrofoam ball you will pin a ribbon like you did at the top cut a slit in the ribbon before you pin it down. This is where the wooden dowel will go.



Next, I cut the wooden dowel the length I wanted it and painted it. I choose to paint it black. I then set it aside to dry.



I then took the little red pail and put some Hugs and Kisses on it (X's and O's)



Next I hot glued a small styrofoam ball inside the pail.



I then stuck the wooden dowel into the large styrofoam ball through the slit which I had cut previously.



I then stuck the other end of the dowel into the styrofoam ball which was glued into the small pail. I then put the moss on top of the small styrofoam ball.



Lastly I tied a bow around the dowel. And there you have it. Just like magic I was able to transform a styrofoam ball into something beautiful for my mantle over Valentines.

How To Make Pumpkin Puree

So here in England it is very difficult to get cans of pumpkin. There is one store that sells it from the 6 - 31 of October, the rest of the year there isnt any. So I normally stock up on pumpkin but from time to time I dont get enough and have to puree a pumpkin myself. The other problem is you can only buy a pumpkin those same times of year. So I very often substitute pumpkin for butternut squash. It works fantastic and tastes the same too.

Im not too sure how many people know how to make their own puree so I thought it might be a good idea to share just how I do it. You may do it different but this is what works best for me.

Step One:
Pre-heat your oven to about 325F 170C or gas mark 4.

Step 2:
Cut your pumpkin or Butternut Squash in half and deseed it. If you are using a pumpkin you can leave it in two big sections or you can put it into quarters at this point.

Step 3:


Place the pumpkin or Squash in a baking dish or on a cookie sheet flesh side up. Fill the bottom of the baking tray with water and place in the oven for about an hour.

Step 4:


Remove from oven when the flesh of the pumpkin or squash is tender. I check this by poking it with a fork, kind of like what I do when I am making mashed potatoes. I know it is done when the fork goes into the pumpkin or squash and comes out very easily.

Step 5:



Remove all the flesh from the skin and use in your favorite pumpkin recipe. Today I made this pumpkin bread recipe and sent some with my hubby into work. Everyone loved it. I hope this little tutorial helps someone

Girls Ruffle Dress from Pillowcase

Well as you know at the moment my crafting has been put on a major hold. I keep telling my wonderful hubby that surely I could sit at the table and make things for our precious Angel (whom by the way is a little girl!)but he is just not letting me move from the bed unless it is to go and lay on the couch or the couch unless it is to go to bed. I am grateful his work is letting him work from home during this difficult time but Im getting BORED!! I need to sort out some needle crafts and quick.

In the meantime I am looking up so much fun stuff on other websites and I have decided that I will just share some of my fantastic finds with each of you as I find them. So look what I found this morning:



I have seen so many pillowcase dresses but I think this is by far my favorit. Plus major bonus is you only need 4 materials:

•A large pillowcase (40 x 20 inches) or same amount of fabric (40 x 40 inches)
•Matching thread
•2 inch matching ribbon
•A button

So cheap and so Easy. To look at the fantastic Tutorial have a look here

I also wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words. I have a lot of faith. I know that all is up to the Lord. Yesterday the Nurse told me she couldnt belive that I have made it to 22 weeks (I will be tomorrow) because when waters break before 20 weeks, and mine went at 19, it is unlikely to make it this far let alone to 24. Our baby is already a fighter and a miracle! Thanks again to everyone. I appreciate it more than you know!

Washcloth Easter Bunny

I just realised that I have never posted this tutorial on here and I think it is really cute, easy and effective for Easter. It makes great gifts for friends just to say I am thinking of you!!

Supplies:

washcloth - a large baby washcloth is ideal
rubber band


Instructions:

Lay the washcloth on a table. Roll one corner, diagonally, into the middle. Roll the opposite corner in the same way, so that both rolls meet in the middle.

Fold the rolled washcloth in half.

Hold the two sides together and fold the two ends backwards, over the top. Fasten a rubber band around the front area to form the head. Fluff out the two ends to make bunny ears.

That is it really. If you wanted to you could decorate it with eyes and ribbon. But essentially that is all there is to it. If you have more questions let me know and I will do a tutorial with pictures! So easy, effective and cute!!

Valentines Day Wreath

So I am starting to get in the mood for Valentine's Day and have been itching to get some Valentines Day crafts sorted out. So I thought I would end my week by doing this one first. A Valentines Day Wreath! I made the same sort of wreath for Halloween but this one turned out way nicer! It is so simple to make too.

What you will need:



1 yard / meter of Red, Pink and White
1 Wire Hanger
Wooden hearts or whatever else you want to decorate your wreath with


All you have to do is cut the Red Pink and White material into strips about 3 inches long and 1 inche wide. I didnt measure because you dont have to be precise.

Next bend your wire hanger into the shape of a circle. Again no perfection needed because when it is all covered up you wont really be able to tell if it is a perfect circle or not.



Next tie all your material pieces onto your hanger. Keep them really close together and get as many strips as you can tied on. The more the fuller your wreath is and the better it looks! I promise!

Next using a hot glue gun glue on the pieces you have with which to decorate your wreath.




That is it. You are now ready to hang your Valentines Day wreath on your door! Have fun doing this. It is easy, quick and really fun. To get the full effect and to see this wreath best click on the picture!



I have 3 other Valentines Day crafts on the go at the moment. Hopefully I will be able to finish them next week and share them with you! Exciting I know. I can hardley control the excitment!