A bunch of stuff...

I have been working on a bunch of projects lately. Here is what I have been up to:

Iron-on vinyl to a plain t-shirt to jazz it up.  I used my Silhouette to cut out the shapes.  I get my vinyl from Expressions Vinyl.  They have the best prices!

Here is my sassy girl in her new shirt!

I made another Hooded Beach Towel Poncho for my 4 year old niece.  She is tall so I changed up to tutorial a little.

Here are my changes:

I used a hand towel for the hood.  

I folded the beach towel in half and cut a slit for the head hole.  

I added ears to the hood

I added a tail to the back and a belt to tie around her waist.  

Here is my son modeling it so you can see the length.

I also made some more Princess Dress-up Aprons: 

This one is Tinker Bell

Sleeping Beauty

I am hosting a monthly craft club at my church.  This month we personalized reuseable shopping bags by using freezer paper stenciling.  Here is a good tutorial for freezer paper stenciling.

If you live in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota and would like to join in our Craft Monthly club.  It is only $5 per craft.  E-mail me and I will send you the info for our next meeting!

We are always busy around here!

Show Off Your Stuff Party # 120

Hello and welcome to our Show Off Your Stuff Party!
Sorry this is so late... we have had a super busy week and my hubby is having ear surgery tomorrow morning!  

This week I am showing off:

My Hooded Poncho Beach Towel

My Spring Yarn Vase

Do you want to make some money blogging?

  One site that I have found helpful in finding sponsors is Social Spark

They match bloggers with advertisers. You get to choose who you promote and how you promote it! It really is a win-win! 

Here is the run down:

1. Pay attention! There are 3 categories to link up:

Crafts and Sewing

DIY and Home Decor

Recipes

pick one and go with it!

{If you pick the wrong one... you can delete your own and add it to the right one! :) }

2. Add a link to your specific post, not the main page of your blog.

3. Please do not link up to something that you are just trying to sell.

4. Link to this party from your post so everyone can get in on the fun. You can just grab my button!

<a href="http://firefliesandjellybeans.com/search/label/Show%20Off%20Your%20Stuff%20Party" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="blank"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fvxHkFmRuww/TjYS_3oztzI/AAAAAAAAAjA/H6n_MRE4xhs/s200/Show+off+your+Stuff+party+button.JPG" width="125" /></a>

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Deal Alert! Anna's Linens Biggest Bedding Buyout!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of JL for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled post to bring you this special deal! Anna's Linens is having their Biggest Bedding Buyout event right now! You can get up to 70% off the retail price!

Huge Savings are yours to be had if you are looking for fabulous bedding sets!
7 or 8 Piece Bedding Sets $69.99 Any Size
9 or 12 Piece Bedding Sets $99.99 Any Size
16 or 24 Piece Bedding Sets $129.99 Any Size
Some of these sets sell for up to $460 in department stores!

We are not talking about knock offs! Nope! Luxury Bedding Sets from famous department stores and designer brands!!! They have really beautiful linens for your bedroom at the fraction of the cost!

Does your master bedroom need an update? Getting a new bedding set is an easy way to give your bedroom a whole new look... or maybe you are redoing a guest room and it needs just the right bedding set to finish the look?  If that is the case, then find your closest closest Anna's Linens Store!  If not then you can always shop atAnna's Linens Online 24/7

Here are the links that you need to save:

Anna's Linens Bedding Buyout Online

Anna's Linens Bedding Buyout Near You

Green Thumb with Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix Giveaway!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I do not have the best track record when it comes to plants.  I try so hard and have such good intentions, but I get busy and life happens and I forget to water them and then sadness!  But, this year I REALLY want to grow my own tomatoes.  I love fresh salsa and I would love to make some from tomatoes from my our own yard.  

This is where Miracle-Gro® Expand ‘n Gro™ comes in to play!  Miracle‐Gro® Expand ‘n GroTM is specially formulated to help you get big, beautiful results anywhere you plant – whether in‐ground or in pots.  I am going to plant my tomatoes in a pot since there is not a great spot in my yard for a garden. 

The great thing about Expand ‘n Gro™  is it expands up to 3 times when mixed with water, feeds plants for up to 6 months, makes native soil more workable.  Expand ‘n Gro retains up to 50% more moisture than basic potting soils and then releases water as plants need it, to help prevent over or under watering.  That is great news for me since I sometimes forget to water my plants!

With Expand ‘n Gro™ Concentrated Planting Mix get the following benefits:

• Up to 3X the Flowers and Vegetables!* *versus native soil
• Significantly improves soil for multiple years
• Concentrated planting mix expands up to 3X when water is added
• Feeds for up to 6 months
• All natural fibers hold up to 50% more water than basic potting soil

Check out the following video:

On lucky winner will get a free sample of Expand ‘n Gro™.  Simply tell me about what you are going to plate this year! {In order to win you MUST be a F&J follower.  I will contact the winner by email}

Hooded Poncho Beach Towel Tutorial!

I wanted to get this project ready so that you have lots of time to make it for summer!  This is such an easy way to make a beach towel into a hooded poncho so that your kiddies stay warm at the beach and pool!   This hooded poncho beach towel will fit kids 1 -4 years old.

Here is what you will need:

1 Beach Towel

sewing machine with sewing tools

I got my towels from Target.  They have some cute ones for boys and girls!

***Note: I use a zig-zag stitch on all my seams for this project and my seam allowence is 1/4 inch***

1. fold your towel in half horizontally with RIGHT sides together.  Cut off the top part so that you have 21inches left on the bottom part.   Save the top part for later when we make the hood.

2. Finish off your edges either by using a surger or a zig-zag stitch.

3. We are going to create the opening for the head.  With your 2 bigger bottom pieces right sides together fold it in half vertically.  Mark with a pin at 5 inches from the fold.  Make sure that you make both sides of fold by pinning the top 2 layers together and the bottom two layer together (see picture below).

4. Open your towel up and pin out to the ends of the towel on both side... leaving the middle part open for the head hole.   Sew on both sides where your pinned but leave the head hole open!

Now it should look like this when you open it after you sew.

5. Now we are going to make a hood out of the part we cut off earlier.   fold the piece so that the finished edges are on the end.  Cut out a hood shape (use a hoodie sweatshirt or other hood for a template).  Pin and sew around the curve of the hood. 

6. Pin your hood to your head hole, lining up the middle part first and pinning out from there.  Make sure that you have RIGHT sides together.  Sew all the way around leaving and opening where the ends meet. 

7. Optional V-neck.  My son has a HUGE head (90th percentile) so I always create a v-neck to make sure the head hole is big enough (obviously this is NOT for my son... I just do it for everyone!).   Cut a slit a couple inches down the middle of the neck line of the front layer of the towel.  Fold over and sew for a finished edge (I used a zig-zag stitch).

Sew on a monogram applique and add some matching swimsuits for a cute gift!

Here is my son modeling the girl towel because I forgot to get a picture of the boy one before I gave it away!  Oops!  

My son is 4 years old and is average height and weight (50th percentile for both!) for a reference for size.

These two were gifts to two special and cute 1-year-olds!  I need to make some for my own kids now! 






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Getting your yard ready for spring with Scotts® Snap® Spreader System

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Scotts® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
Spring is here.  And with this unusually warm weather we have been having here in the northwest it looks like we are going to working in our yards, and gardens much earlier then we usually do!

You all know the guy whose lawn looks like it belongs at the golf course, right?  Well, that is my neighbor.  He is the sweetest man on earth and a great neighbor but, his lawn makes my lawn look like crap!  My hubby tries every year to at least stay in the running, but it doesn't take long before there is a distinct line between our two lawns. With two kids, a job and family/church commitments we have a lot on our plate and our lawn is low on our priority list.

To keep up this spring we need the Scotts® Snap® Spreader System!  It takes all the mess and  guess work out of taking care of our yard!  The Snap Pac connects directly to the Snap Spreader – no cutting, no opening and no pouring from heavy bags – no spilling or waste! 
The system auto-sets the proper flow rate. No Spreader settings required! It also has a unique EdgeGuard feature that keeps product where you want it…. on the lawn!  When you’re done, the Snap Pac self-seals upon removal making it easy to store – No more half empty bags on the garage floor.

Hopefully this is what my lawn will look like this year:

Check out this testimonial:

Be sure to "like" Snap perks on Facebook to stay up to date on great promotions and contests!

Spring Yarn Vase

Today, I have a fun and easy spring decor craft for you:

Here is what you will need:
Mod Podge
Paint brush
vase
yarn

Here is how you make your own:

1. Paint on the Mod Podge on the top of the vase down about an inch.  You don't want to go down too far because the Mod Podge dries.
2. Wrap your yarn about the vase over the Mod Podge.  Be sure to cover the end and push all the rings together tight.
3. Paint on some more Mod Podge.
4. Wrap more yarn... repeat, repeat, repeat!

5. Wrap all the way down to the bottom of the vase and use Mod Podge to glue the end in the place.  I had to hold in in place while it dried.   If you are in a hurry you could also use a dot of hot glue.

Add some cute embellishments and you have an adorable spring vase!

 

Linking up: