My daughter has had this white turtle neck hanging in her closet for 2 years now… and she has worn it once for about 20 minutes.  Before she yanked it off and declared it was strangling her.  It was obvious she did NOT like turtle necks, but I could not bring myself to  get rid a a brand new shirt that still fit her.

Weather is a bit crazy here in Idaho, cold one day and hot the next.  We were getting ready for church last week and my daughters spring dress was not enough to keep her warm in the cool spring breeze.  But the only jackets we had were more for play and looked silly with her formal dress. In a last minute desperate move I ran up to her closet, grabbed her turtle neck and a pair of scissors.  With my kids watching as if I had gone totally mad… they watched me cut a brand new shirt right in two.  I had no idea if it would work or not…. but I have to say it looked really nice. The stretchy fabric did not fray either, even after I washed it.

Thanks to Living life and loving every second  for this money saving tip on how to make your own lace head band.  Cute, trendy, useful and budget friendly… love it!

If you would like to be a featured guest post on Look What I Made,watch for our weekly post each Tuesday called A Thrifty online craft fair, link up and you may be selected for our weekly feature post.

You will need:

• Lace (mine was not stretch
• Jersey Knit
• Sewing Machine
• Scissors
• Elastic

First cut your jersey fabric into a strip about 6 inches wide then fold in half hot dog style and measure around your head then subtract an inch and cut. Sew along the raw edges from end to end and when your finished pull the tube right side out and slide that seam to the middle so it is not visible and flat on one side. Pin and sew the lace on. Final step you will now measure what you have around your head again and figure out the length of elastic you need cut it and tuck it into the opening on both ends and sew shut. VOILA YOUR DONE!

Here’s an inexpensive craft that you can do with your kiddos. I bought everything you need to make these pencils at the dollar store. I saw sunflower pencils at a craft fair a few years ago. Very simple, with a sunflower and green stem wrapped around the pencil. They looked easy enough and it gave me an idea back then. I wanted to make flower pencils with some spunkiness by adding lots of colors. Who says a flower has to have a green stem, right? Or who says you can’t mix different color petals together for the fun of it?! That’s what makes these fun. Kids aren’t afraid of bright colors, my kids bring out the ”Rainbow Brite” in me when it comes to crafts. If you need a little inspiration with color, call the kiddos, they’ll know just what to do.   Wouldn’t these make a cute party favor? I was thinking about tying one with ribbon around a diary for a young girl as a gift. Or you could surprise your little girl by putting one in her back pack with a special note tied to it. For the adults in your life you could switch out the pencil for a pen. I love mine. I feel all cutesy when I write with it. I’m all “Girly girl” what can I say.

Supplies needed:

• Pencils or pens (try and find colored or printed ones for a spunkier flower)
• beads (variety of colors)
• flowers (your choice and your color)
• pipe cleaners, variety of colors

Directions, Remove the middle of the flower, separate petals.

Stack desired colored petals on top of each other (about 4-5).

String the colored bead of your choice onto one of the pipe cleaners.

Wind the shorter end of the pipe cleaner around the longer end to secure.

Next, wind the rest of the pipe cleaner down around your pencil or pen.

I was looking at some old Mother’s Day cards my kids have given me over the years and I came across this finger print flower poem.  I loved it then, and still love it now.  So my girls made a few of them yesterday for a fun after school project.

The poem reads…

I made you a flower

With my finger and my thumb

So you will have these memories

For all the years to come

Happy Mother’s Day 2012

To make these all you need is a white price of card stock cut into a strip, colored paper to make the card, green marker to draw a stem, paints and some cute little fingers.

Have your child dip their finger in green paint to create the leaves.  Then dip their pointer finger in paint to create the flower petals.  I found it was easier for them to follow a circle drawn with pencil.  Attach the poem and you are done!

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

Heart Bloom Card DIY

Pot of plants from starts from your yard

My Mom dropped by yesterday with an early Mothers Day gift for me.  Yes she is sweet and even though she is my Mom, she gives me a gift every year for Mothers Day.  But being that this apple has not fallen to far from the tree… most my Mom’s gifts are frugal, and homemade.  She has been working out in her yard, she had planted Hens and Chicks (a plant that sends lots of new starts each year) when I was just a little girl.  She got them from her own Mother’s yard.  Now 20+ years later she wanted to share some of Grandma’s plants with me.  She potted them up in a little bucket, rocks from one of their trips to the mountains and a bird house she painted.

I loved this personalized gift, make me feel like I have a little piece of my parents yard on my front step.  And did I mention it is SUPER cute and I love it more than any pre-made flower bouquet!  Thanks Mommy I love it!

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

Heart Bloom Card DIY

Once again with our Simple and Frugal Mothers Day ideas… today I am going to show you how to make this ” Heart Bloom Card”.  All you need is 4 colors of pattern paper, scissors, glue and blue and white card stock.

First fold and cut your card stock to the size of card you want.  Next cut the blue card stock just smaller than the card front and glue it to the front. Next cut out 8 hearts the exact same size ( 2 of each color).  Fold one of each color in half and glue the fold to the other heart.  Once that has dried glue them onto the card… easy as that you have your very own Heart Bloom card, ready to give to Mom for her special day.

More Mothers Day Ideas:

DIY Paper Flowers for Mother’s Day

Simple Ideas to make Mother’s Day one she will never forget

Childrens Hand Print Flower Mother’s Day  DIY Card

Simple Mothers Day Card, for all ages

Corner Book Marks ~ Kids Craft for Mother’s Day

With Mother’s Day right around the corner I wanted to share this paper flower craft.  I made these with my little girls and they loved them!

You will need

• Patterned scrapbook paper (double sided is best)  for 5 circles and a base
• Glue
•  Button
• straw or chop stick ( to use as your flower stem)
• Circle punch ( I used the 1 1/4 in circle punch) or something round to trace so you can out out circles

You will need to punch out 5 circles out of patterned paper and one larger circle to glue the petals too.  The fun thing about these flowers is you can make them all sizes, big or small.. they are cute all sizes!

Fold you circle in half, then open it back up.

Bring the edge of the circle to the middle line and fold again… do this on both sides.

 Do this to all 5 petals… you may find that you have to fold one a little wider at the end  so the petals all fit in a nice tight circle.

Glue the 5 petals to the larger circle (or square)

 Glue a button or gem into the middle, then tape a straw or chop stick to the back of the flower to create a stem.

This is a thrifty, money saving gift idea that is both fun to make and to give!

Have you seen these cute flower clips and head bands at boutiques and esty pages.  They are cute but rather pricey! So today I am going to show you how to make your very own for under $1.00.  At my daughters 7th birthday party we let the girls make these and take them home.  They had a blast, it as a stylish and “thrifty” party favor!

(If you are not able to view the video click here)

To make these you will need ( got most the supplies at my local dollar store)

• Hair clips (came 15 in a package for $1)
• Stretchy Head Bands (came 6 in a package for $1)
• Flowers on the stem, but pull them off ( each stem was $1 and gave me 10-30 flower pieces depending on the stem) Make sure you buy a few different sizes and colors.
• Brads or paper fasteners ( get them at a craft store or office supple store… a few cents each)

Start off by taking your flowers off the stem, then taking the green packing off and pulling the plastic flower middle out.

Now layer the flowers as you like… you can add as many as you want.  I like to add 5-7 on each, start with the biggest and work you way down to the smallest.

Take your brad and poke it into the hole in each of the flowers.

Once you get it threw all the flowers, attach it to the flower clip by spreading the legs apart ( as seen in photo).

You can now wear it as a clip, or attach it to a stretchy head band.

You can also take these apart and mix and match them as needed to match your different outfits!

Hope you enjoy these… share this with all your thrifty friends!

They make great gifts for friends or nieces!

DIY Bird Feeder by Tiffany – When I was little and in school we made these easy DIY bird feeders. I thought my kiddos ages 3 and 6 were old enough to make them, so we gave it a go. They did a fantastic job and had so much fun making them. After we hung our bird feeders, we sat patiently and watched to see if the birdies would come, and they did! My three year old daughter thought this was the best project EVER! She was even nice enough to bring more empty rolls of toilet paper, wasn’t that sweet?! Yes, she unrolled several rolls before I knew what she was doing. Little stinker!

Supplies Needed:

• Bird Seed
• Creamy Peanut Butter (challenge yourself with the crunchy ..)
• Empty Toilet Paper Rolls
• String, Ribbon or Twine
• Scissors, for cutting ribbon

1. Put the ribbon through the toilet paper tube and make a knot at the top. (This can be done before or after rolling in peanut butter & bird seed. We’ve done it both ways.)

2. Spread peanut butter all over toilet paper tube.

3. Roll peanut butter covered tube in bird seed.
4. Hang in your favorite tree & watch the birdies come.

Thanks Tiffany – hope your lil cutie pie has fun hanging those!

Matts Mom came to visit this weekend, and she always brings a fun bag of projects to do with my kids.  Yesterdays she told me they were going to make Shaving Cream Art… I could not wrap my head around the project at first.  But it turned out really pretty and my girls loved every second of it.

Supplies needed

• Shaving Cream
• Acrylic paint ( from the craft store)
• Card stock or other stiff paper cut into an egg shape
• Window squeegee
• Shallow pan or plate to put the the shaving cream on
• Paper towels or wet rag to clean the squeegee after each paper

 Start by spraying a layer of shaving cream in the bottom of a shallow pan or plate.  Then squirt or drip the paint on top of the shaving cream, place a piece of paper on top and gently rub it to make sure it makes contact with the whole surface.

 Slowly pull it up, it will look like a smeared mess…. but then use a window squeegee to take the shaving cream off.  Underneath you will find a brightly colored fun painted egg.

This project can be a little messy so make sure you wear your painting clothes!  Have fun !

Easter is just a week away, I am sure many of you have fun family traditions your little ones look forward to each year.  But I want to share this clever idea my friend told me about.  It  reminds me of the magical fairy tale of Jack and the Bean Stalk…. magic beans always add a little extra fun to any story!

All you need is a few Jelly Beans, Lolly Pops or Suckers ( or you could use Easter goodies, books or toys)  and some awesome story telling skills

Story idea #1- You found these magic beans that the Easter Bunny must have dropped,  being that these are magic beans they will sprout a magical surprise when planted and watered.  Dig a little hole, cover them up, add water and see what the morning sun brings you! ( I got these flower suckers at the $1.00 store)

Story idea #2- If you do not have the Easter Bunny come to your house, or if you want to add more of a religious teaching, you can talk about Luke Chapter 18 in the Bible.  Talk about how Jesus’s body was laid in the tomb then on the 3rd way was  raised from the dead and lived again.  The flowers can be a symbol of raising up, and living again.

If you are like me I love making things that are useful, cute, and handmade. But I don’t know how to do it all and I love learning new cute ideas! Craftsy is a great place for a couple reasons:

1) Terrific online classes from amazing instructors for beginning, intermediate and advanced quilters, knitters, crocheters, sewists, jewelry makers, and other crafters.
2) Astonishingly good deals on crafting supplies: organic yarn, lovely fabrics and fat quarters from top designers, high quality needles, etc…

So while the cold winter weather sets in, don’t go crazy with nothing to do… Go to Craftsy to learn a new craft and get some great deals!

My friend Leslea made me this adorable candy dish for Christmas.  The photo’s does not do it justice, I wish you could see it in personl. It is really cute!

BUT I loved it even more when I realized what she made it out of…….  Can you tell… look hard.

The base is a clay pot pot turned upside down, and painted black.  The lid to the candy pot is the base of the clay pot also painted black and turned upside down.

The candy dish is a fish bowl….. Looks like she used gorilla glue or something to attach it to the base.

Last but not least a wooden ball, also painted black attached to the top as the handle to the candy jar.

She made mine out of a clay pot, and a glass bowl, so I am just praying my kids do not bust it into a million pieces.  To make it a little more kid friendly you could make it out of a plastic pot and a plastic fish bowl.  Either way, I love mine …thanks again Leslea.

Get any of these cute wall decals for as low as $2.37 and as high as only $8 bucks..AND ALL WITH FREE SHIPPING – yeah!!! Get yours and many other decals here- Focalprice,Free shipping!

We all love to try and be creative. Some times it takes a couple little hints from someone who is really good. Here is a step by step instruction on how to make Pom Pom from old t-shirts. We would like to thank Carrissa from Living Live and Loving Every Second for sending this our way

Here is the picture of the pom poms they made!

First things first you need to find a t shirt.

I only used from the arm pit down of the shirt and then cut thin strips….after this step is done you need to cut two pieces of card board in the shape of a (C) You can see what I mean with the picture above. You take one piece of the t shirt and wedge it in the middle of the card board (This is so you can tie it after all is wrapped and cut!

You will want to wrap it three times around and once you do that you can use scissors or use an Exacto knife which is sharper and way faster *Hint* Hold your hand down holding the t shirt in place while cutting.

After you have cut all the way around you take the two pieces that you tucked into the cardboard and tie them tight….all of the fabric will gather. Once you have tied it you can remove the card board and fluff it up!

Next is just to hang and ENJOY!

Sarah used to scrapbook every chance she had when we were first married. Now she is so busy she only does it every so often. We wanted to help our readers learn how to scrapbook. Some times just the idea for some to be creative can be difficult. Scrapbooking can be fun and easy. So one of our friends – Tiffany – will be do frequent Easy To Follow posting to help those who want to learn, and give tips for those who are a little more experienced.

1.Decide on a theme.
I have made scrapbooks of weddings, birthdays, pets, new baby, weekend get-a-ways …
pretty much anything that my little heart desires! The possibilities are endless!

2. Gather your pictures
Gather up your pictures that you want to use for this project. How
many pictures you have will help you to decide what size scrapbook to purchase.
Speaking about sizes, there are many to choose from. Small 6″x6″ scrapbooks are great
for making a brag book to show off that new pet or new addition to your family.
8″ x 8″ are my favorites. These are small enough to work with that I don’t get overwhelmed. They
don’t require as many pictures or as much paper as the 12″x12″ size. However I have several
12″ x 12″ scrapbooks that I have done for family vacations. It is totally a personal preference!

3. Gather supplies:
Scrapbook
Pictures
Cardstock for mating your pictures
Neutral (acid free) cardstock for pages
Paper cutter. (this gives straighter lines, but scissors can also be used.)
Adhesive (I use TOMBOW ‘s mono multi liquid glue)
Embellishments to decorate your pages
A local craft store will have a selection of scrapbooks, cardstock, and
embellishments to choose from.
I know embellishments can be totally overwhelming
Start simple. Some favorites of mine are ribbons, buttons, rub-ons, and stickers.
These can be found in any color to match your theme.

4. Background pages.
(The pages you will eventually glue your pictures onto.)
Depending on the size of the scrapbook you have chosen, you may need to
cut your paper to fit your pages. Cut enough for each page and insert into
page protectors for protection until they are needed.
Most scrapbooks come with pages already in them. However, I am not a big fan of white as
most of them are, so I change mine to a color of choice.

5. Crop and Mat your pictures.
Either single or double mat your pictures.
“Crop” means to cut off the messy or unimportant part of the picture, making your subject
the main focus. “Mat” means to place your picture on a piece of cardstock with an equal border
around each edge. If you are nervous about cropping your pictures, print doubles!

6. Divide your pictures according to how many pages you have.
For the 6″ X 6″ only one picture will fit per page.
The 8″ x 8″ can hold one or two pictures per page.
The 12″x12′ can fit three to four pictures per page.

7. Arrange mated pictures on onto page.
Do NOT glue yet! Move the pictures around
on the page until you like the way they look together. After you have decided
where the pages look best, glue them into place.

8. Add embellishments or captions to your pages.
Personally, I only work on one or two pages at a time. This helps me not to feel
rushed or overwhelmed. When you are placing your embellishments be careful
not to “over-do” it. Your pictures are your main focus, your embellishments
compliment the pictures and should not be the main focus of the page.

9. Protect the finished product.
After each page is completed, slip it back into the protective
sleeve. I have ruined completed pages by spilling glue so I always
place the page into the scrapbook as soon as it is done.

10. Share Your Creation!
Your scrapbook is now complete! Your
scrapbook is a unique gift from the heart that can not be
duplicated. Unfortunately, after I complete a scrapbook, I want
to keep it!  But hey, guess now I will just have to make one for myself!

Remember, a photo album shows pictures, while a scrapbook can
tell a one of a kind story! Until next time, Happy Scrapping!

Well it’s Matt. My whole life I have been the type to try and figure things out for my self. I love trying to make things that many think is too hard. Well about 6-8 years ago I was watching a show on making cheese, and I thought – I can do that. So I searched the internet and found a kit to make cheese from home. It is actually pretty easy to make mozzarella cheese. Every now and then I break out the kit I bought 8 years ago and make a pound of cheese for pizza or cheese on tomatoes, or just for fun.

DIY - mozzarella cheese

To make one pound of cheese you need one gallon of milk. We had two different milks that were both about half full that I added together. They were close to expiring and I had just bought new milk. So in the pot they went.

Here is how:

You need a cheese making kit. The one I have had I have made about 6 pounds of cheese and I haven’t even used 1/4 of the ingredients. It keeps well in the back of the fridge.

One cheese making kit - Rennet, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid, Mild Lipase Powder, Flaked salt

The one I used is from Leeners – $24.95
Leeners Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Making Kit
Or this one for $18.50 – I haven’t used this but I’m sure it’s similar.
Roaring Brook Dairy Mozzarella Cheesemaking Kit

Follow the instructions but basically you need:

• pot large enough to hold a gallon of milk,
• One Gallon of milk (whole milk is best – cheese needs high fat content)
• One cheese making kit – Rennet, Calcium Chloride, Citric Acid, Mild Lipase Powder, Flaked salt
• large spoon with holes for draining
• 5 small bowls to have everything pre-measured
• a large microwave safe bowl
• thick rubber gloves (I used 5 pair of latex gloves but the thick rubber kitchen gloves would work too, clean)
• one cooking thermometer

Start by pouring 1 (one) gallon of milk into the pot. Whole milk is best cheese is better with higher fat content. I have even made it from raw milk at Sarah’s parents house, they are dairy farmers. Some risk involved with raw milk.

Slowly warm the milk on low to medium heat. Slower the better, scalded or burnt cheese probably doesn’t taste that good.

While the milk is warming start preparing the additives

In one small bowl add

1/2 tsp of Rennet with 1/4 cup of distilled (I use tap) water

Next bowl :

1 tsp calcium chloride liquid mix with 2 Tbs of distilled (or tap) water

Next Bowl:

Measure 2 tsp of citric acid powder

Next Bowl:

Measure 1/2 tsp of Flaked salt. To be added while stretching the cheese in the last process

Next Bowl :

Measure 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of mild lipase powder. Optional if you are vegetarian.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Milk with Citric Acid, curd forming

Closely watch the temperature of the warming milk. Add the citric acid while it is warming. Stir the citric acid for 30 seconds.  You will begin to see the milk separate and form curds. Continue to  stir once every minute or so. Once it reaches 88 degrees F add the calcium chloride mixture and the lipase powder. Stir the mixtures slowly for 30 seconds. Let the mixture continue to warm to 105 degrees F.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - 105 degrees, Citric Acid, Rennet, Mild Lipase Powder

Once 105 degrees F has been reaches cover and turn off the heat. Let the whey and curd mixture sit at 105 F for 15 minutes to allow the curd to fully develop. The curd is the white clumps and the whey is the greenish clear liquid in the pot.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Cover and let sit with heat off

After 15 minutes gently take out the curd with the slotted spoon. Put the curd into your microwave safe bowl. Try and remove as much curd from the whey as you can.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - After 15 minutes remove the curd, place into microwave safe bowl

Gently press the curd mixture with your gloves on. Pore the whey back into the pot. Press and pour this step until not much is being squeezed out.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - press out as much whey by hand

Now place the bowl with the curd mass into the microwave. Heat on High for ONE minute. Remove and press the mass to try and remove any more whey liquid as you can. Repeat this pressing and pouring till no more whey can be removed – about 30 seconds or so.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Place in microwave, cook on high one minute

Place back into the microwave for ONE minute again. Remove the cheese and press and pull the cheese similar to making taffy. Add the remaining flake salt while you are pulling and stretching the cheese. The more you pull the firmer and stringing it will become.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Continue to squeeze the whey out, place in microwave again for one minute

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Add the Flaked Salt and stretch and pull cheese

This is where I stopped microwaving it, but for a more firm cheese repeat the microwave step again.

At this point the cheese is very hot and this is where thick gloves comes in handy. I wore 5 latex gloves on each hand and it was still VERY hot.  Stretch and pull the cheese just like taffy makers. The more you pull and stretch it the more stringing and firm it becomes. For a softer cheese only pull and stretch for a short time, maybe one or two pulls then form your cheese ball.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Stretch and Pull the cheese and work the curd together

Form the cheese the way you want, place in an air tight container. In the fridge it is good for about one week, and in the freezer for about a month.

DIY - Mozzarella cheese - Form a tight cheese ball with the flat of your palm and press your fingers upward on the bottom middle of the cheese mass.

If the cheese is too soft to grate, place in the freezer to firm the cheese for grating. ENJOY!

How do you like your cheese?

DIY - Mozzarella cheese, Tomato, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, Basil