Make This: How to Make Adorable Matchbox Valentines
I have been saving this one for you for almost a year!! I ran across it last year just after valentines and saved these pictures to share this year just in time for valentines. They are seriously SO cute and easy. I am headed to albertsons today to grab some matchboxes (about $1.50 for 10 boxes) and make these myself. 
Grab some scraps of paper and ribbon, some tape and a heart punch and you’ve got yourself some homemade valentines in minutes…
Thanks to inchmark for the cute idea!
Have a great Thursday!!
-t
everyday life: sundae news
Last week John had a few minutes off one afternoon and so we decided to run the kids over to the most happening place in town. A few months back they opened a new/old restaurant in a local mall and we have been dying to take them. I have many fond memories of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. I celebrated many birthday’s there as a child. Apparently, I’m not the only one who remembers the good old days, the line has been crazy long since they opened in November. With the kids out of school earlier than most and John off on a rare Thursday, we headed over to enjoy some nostalgia and ice cream, complete with the player piano.
Can’t say much about the food or the service, but it’s really all about the memories…isn’t that right?? 
Have a great day!
-t
Eat This: Recipe for the BEST Chicken Tortilla Soup
I have long professed my love for the site allrecipes.com. If you love to cook like I do then this will quickly become one of your favorites too. Everything under the sun is found there and with TONS of ratings…so you can really get feel for whether or not you are going to like something before you make it. I found this recipe a while back and we LOVE it. With all this cold weather and rain I LOVE to make some homemade soup.
Recipe:
Directions
- In a large pot over medium heat, saute the chicken in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin and mix well. Then add the broth, corn, onion, chili powder, lemon juice and salsa. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Break up some tortilla chips into individual bowls and pour soup over chips. Top with the Monterey Jack cheese.
I serve mine with quesadillas too. A little twist on the tomato soup and grilled cheese. The kids gobble this stuff up!
You can have this at you house tonight in about 30 minutes…so easy and SO good!!
Enjoy!!
-t
Online Photography Classes: {Picture Perfect} Session 2–Now Enrolling
I can’t believe that this week marks the fourth week of class!! I am having a blast and it is SO fun to see how everyone is learning through their pictures and the questions and email that I get. We have been having fun chats on the message board and I feel like I am making great new friends from all over the world!! It is so fun to share a common interest like photography and have a place to chat about it!
I have had several people ask and several register already, so I thought I’d let you know that if you are interested in signing up for session #2 enrollment is now open. Class will begin March 8, 2010 and run for 6 weeks. The cost is $200. I do keep class size limited so that I can answer questions in a timely manner and give the individual attention to each student.
If you’d like to join us for session #2 you can register securely through Paypal here:
make this: felt crayon roll
i have been seeing these over at etsy and thinking how they are so cute and would be great to carry in my purse. we have a bag that we carry to church and other places where Ashley and Andy need to be quiet for extended periods of time, but the crayons always end up loose in the bottom of the bag and making a real mess. I know some of you are probably thinking, “stick them in a ziploc bag, dork!” but you probably know enough abou me by now that a ziplo bag isn’t going to cut it around here… I NEED a cute crayon roll. lol!!
Pictures and tutorial courtesey of Skip to My Lou one VERY crafty girl and blog. You will LOVE it. She has all kinds of wonderful tutorials for you, especially if you’re not a lazy seamstress like me!!!
Problem is, I’m too lazy to make all the ones I have seen until now. I found the perfect, cute, easy to make with little sewing tutorial. Since I am a fake seamstress this works out well for me.
You need three pieces of wool felt 6″ X 16 1/2 (pocket), 5″ X 16 1/2″ (outside), 5″ x 16 1/2″ (inside). Another plus about the felt from Prairie Point Junction is that the sheets are 12″ X 18″. Not only are the felt sheets at the craft store not as durable they are too small for this project. I thought about using the felt on the bolt, but again I was wanting something that would hold up to little hands and it seemed too thick.
Take the 6 X 16 1/2 piece (pocket) and fold it in half length ways. Lay it on top of the 5″ X 16 1/2 (inside) piece. Starting over 1 1/4″ from the edge stitch from top to the bottom on the pocket piece. Then continuing stitching every 1″. Back stitch at the top of each stitching line to reinforce. You will end with 1 1/4″ on the other side.
If you want the outside of your roll to have any embellishments make them now on your outside piece. It would be beautiful to use some of the felt scraps for applique or do some embroidery.
Place the pocket piece that you just sewed on top of your outside piece (wrong sides together). The pocket piece might be slightly smaller from all of the stitching of the pockets —-I just gave mine a little stretch (gently) to match everything up. Pin to keep it all in place.
On the right edge at the middle insert a 30″ piece of ribbon folded in half. Insert the folded end about 1/2 an inch.
Sew all the way around the outside 1/4″ in from the edge.
A nice blanket stitch would dress up the edge or you can use pinking shears (make sure they are for fabric and they are sharp). Be careful when you come to the ribbon you will have to do each side separately.
Note:
I doubled the pocket to make it sturdier and give the crayons extra padding to make them stay in. This seems to work well, however you could always use a 3″ X 16 1/2″ piece for the pocket. I would sew a ribbon across the top edge for extra stability before I make the pockets.
These would be cute valentines for your little ones!!
I’ll post pictures of mine when I get around to actually making it.
Have fun!!
-t
make this: valentine treat cones
I’ve been seeing different versions of these popping up all over the place for halloween, wedding favors, etc. so I thought I would make up a quick valentines version and tutorial for you. They are super fun looking and easy to make. Your kids would LOVE to help, and who wouldn’t love finding one of these cute cones filled to the brim with goodies hanging on their door when they wake up valentine’s morning??
Materials:
1. Paper punch I used a heart for valentines, but with the number of punches on the market, the possibilites are endless!!
2. You can use any papers ou have on hand for this craft. Vintage sheet music looks really cool for a more elegant versin. You can find it at flea markets, thrift stores, yard sales or etsy.com.
3. Ribbon
4. Glitter
5. Scissors (if you have pinking shears those would add a fun look too)
6. Clothespin or binder clip
7. White Glue (I use aleene’s tacky glue, elmer’s would work fine too I’m sure)
8. Hole Punch
9. any fun embellishments to hang from the ribbon
Directions:
1. Roll one sheet of paper into a cone shape, gradually working with it to get it to taper off to a point. Glue with a thin layer of tacky glue, using a clothespin, binder clip or paperclip to hold in place until dry.
2. Punch or cut heart shapes from coordinating paper and glue around rim or down the front seam of the paper cone. To create three dimensional look, I folded my hearts slightly in the middle so that they stuck out from the cone, Apply a thin line of glue along edge and hold in place for a few seconds until the glue begins to dry.
3. When completely dry, apply white glue to desired areas and dust with glitter. 4. Punch a hole on each side of the cone and thread ribbon through holes to hang. 5. Fill with goodies and enjoy!
Obviously you can make many different variations of this. Just think of the posibilities. How cute would these be made in the theme of your choice, hanging from the backs of chairs as place card holders. So fun!!
enjoy!!
-t
everyday life: wild weather
it has been a wild couple of days around here. whipping wind, hail, cold temperatures (well, ok, cold for us), rain, thunder, lightning, and then this yesterday…
WHAT??? I was watching fox news (i’m a total news junkie) when the national weather service interrupted the broadcast and gave us a tornado warning! They kept saying get to your basement and I’m thinking…”hello! this is CA…we don’t have basements!!”
poor little Andy was in hysterics. I didn’t even know that he knew what a tornado was…but apparently so. he kept screaming “we’re going to get sucked up!! we’re going to get sucked up!!” it was slightly amusing — poor little guy. so i got on the internet to research the signs of a tornado only find that we had experienced three of the five. while i was reading it everything all of a sudden went dead calm. no more wind, no more rain. it was wierd. it was sign number 4. GREAT!
needless to say we didn’t have any trouble, but some of our neighbors up a little bit north of us right by John’s office did see this real live twister. it did minimal damage and no one was hurt…but how WILD!! we’re supposed to have earthquakes, not tornadoes!! we’re in for more crazy weather as the biggest of the storms moves in today and tomorrow…we’ll see what that brings.
hope you are having a great day!
-t
by Tammy
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