DIY Shoe Socks - Tutorial

My little lady needed some Easter shoes.



But I hate when people put "real shoes" on newborns.

I just personally think it looks silly.

But, I'm in LOVE with Trumpette's cute shoe socks!

At $25 a set, they are a little too expensive.

So, I decided to get out there and make my own!

Let me tell you... it was EASY!

and CHEAP!

Here's how:

Buy some fabric paint at your local Joann's or Michael's store.

{they also sell fabric paintbrushes in the same aisle}

I wanted brown shoes, so I got brown paint.  You could do any color here!

Get yourself some plain white socks.

{or go crazy with some colored ones!}

And stuff it with a folded paper towel to prevent bleeding through.



It would be ideal to get socks without the grippers on the bottom.



With fabric paint, paint a small line about 1/4" above the "toe seam" and curve it back around the "heel seam"

Fill it in with paint and do the same to the other side.

Paint on your MaryJane style strap.

Stick a knife in them and dry them upside down in a cup overnight.

Put them on your little one in the morning and swoon at how sweet their piggies are!

Fabric may feel stiff the next morning, but it softens with wear.

I made another version of the sock shoe, too.

One that I think I love even better!

I simply left off the step of painting on the MaryJane strap.

And sewed on a bright pink ribbon in the morning.

I think Lady Bug needs one of these in every color!!

Easter Recap

You'll have to forgive me for bringing Easter up for another post.

And you'll have to forgive me for the overwhelming amount of pictures of my children.

Now that that's out of they way...

Easter was nice.

We drove 8 hours to be with family.

And it was worth every minute.

Little Bug actually liked the Easter Bunny!



And he caught on REAL quick about the egg thing.

When the hunt was all over, he kept signing "more" and then "please".

We dyed easter eggs pink.

And then dyed our hand pink.

Lady Bug loved the colors.

There may or may not have even been a little love connection.

And the 8 hour drive wasn't even that bad.

Thanks to...

Sleeping babies.

E-books.

McDonald's PlayPlaces.

And husbands who will indulge his inner child.

Thanks for reading.

And thanks for loving my family, too.

I know you can't resist these eyes any more than I can.

FREE Mother's Day Gift Idea

Every six months or so, I print all of our family's digital photos into a photobook.

We LOVE looking through them.

Over and over.

{In fact, I usually wait until I can get a BOGO offer so I can have one copy the kids can look through without me having an anxiety attack.  I keep the other copy in the fire-proof safe.  Then someday they will each get a copy.}

I've been trying different photobook companies to figure out which one I like best.

{I LOVE photobooks so much that if she hadn't already done it, I'd probably start up a blog dedicated to them!}

So far my favorite {by far} is MyPublisher.

The covers are more of a matted look {and feel} instead of high gloss.

The pages feel thicker.

The colors are brighter.

And I love the ease of their program.

AND the variety of templates.

{all I do is drag and drop my pictures into the templates they already offer.  easy.}
And did you see how cute the box is that it arrives in?

And right now, you can get a hardcover 5.75" x 7.75" photobook FREE!

Here's how:

Click on this button to get a $20 gift card.

5.75" x 7.75"  Hardcover photobooks are $19.99, so all you have to do is pay for shipping.

I ordered mine last week.
And I couldn't be happier.

I think Little Bug liked it, too.  Even though he's drilling a picture of himself.
Bad hair day, maybe?

If you order yours before Thursday, April 28th it will be here in time for Mother's Day!

Trust me, you will NOT regret getting this.

And really, who can pass up a FREE photobook??
{If you don't use it for a Mother's Day gift, treat yourself!!}

Here's the link again:

Happy Designing!

Happy Easter!

There is it...
the Easter shoot.
We had a lot of fun shooting it.
I just used one white wall for our backdrop this time.
Easy.

And because it's Easter...

This video made me tear up.

THIS is what I like to see.

People using creative measures to help other people.

{watch 'til the end to see what I mean... and tell me that you didn't get goosebumps, too}

Happy Earth Day SALE!

In honor of Earth Day today...

Save 10% on 

Reusable Snack Bags,

The Clara Lynn,

AND EVEN SAVE on the Picnic Package!

Design Your Own here!

and enter EarthDay2011 at the checkout

to save 10%!

{Sale ends April 23rd at noon EST}

Snack Bags GALORE!

snack bags...

snack bags...

snack bags...

snack bags...

snack bags...

{do you have yours yet?}

How to make COLORED RICE!

Yes, it's possible.

Yes, it's fun.

Yes, it's quick.

This is a great Easter/Spring activity to do with your kiddos.

But is also GREAT for a rainy afternoon.

{or a snowy one... as it SNOWED in Michigan today... boo}

If they aren't old enough to MAKE the rice with you, then they are definitely old enough to play in it!

I envision a whole rice "sandbox" in my future.

For now, I bundled up the colored rice all nice and snug between two pieces of vinyl to make some Easter Egg bean bags.

{much cleaner than an indoor "ricebox"}

And tried my hand and using some to decorate with.

Here's how it is done:

Supplies: measuring cup and spoons, bowls, food coloring, rice, pan with paper towels or newspaper




1. Take 3 tablespoons of water and drop 3-5 drops of food coloring in it.

Measure out 1 cup of rice.

2. Pour the rice in and stir to coat all the pieces.

Let sit for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Make more colors!

4. Spread each bowl out on paper towels or newspaper on top of a cookie sheet.

Dry overnight.

In the morning, you'll have nice and dry colored rice!

{anyone ever tried to cook this and see what happens?!}

And while this video includes lots of fun with BEANS {although Little Bug seems to disagree},

I'm sure the same excitement would be had for colored rice.

Thanks for reading {and watching} :)

Design Your Own Picnic Package

Are you all excited about SPRING?!

It's starting to warm up around here, so to celebrate,

I put together this new ETSY listing.

A Picnic Package!!

When you purchase the "Design Your Own Picnic Package" listing, you receive:

- a Clara Lynn Market Tote

- Two large reusable snack/sandwich bags

- Two small reusable snack bags

all designed by YOU!

{that's FIVE Better Life Bags!}

The Clara Lynn is a GREAT size for packing all your picnic essentials.

And I can't get enough of those reusable snack bags.

We use them

all.

the.

time.

Design your own picnic package so you can picnic in style.

(and save $8 on the price of all 6 bags purchased seperately)

Our Valentine's Day Picnic circa 2007.

Birthday Beach Picnic.  If only I had had a Better Life Bag instead of that Vera Bradley!

Picnics with our little ones are so much fun now!

Design Yours here!