Food

DIY T-Shirt Design + Salty but Super Sweet with Cricut Rose Gold IRON-ON Foil

14 · Mar 7, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Anyone out there have a middle school girl, a sassy friend or teenagers at all? I have ALL THREE!! The level of sass in my life is epic. I have three girls all in the teen years and there is a new term floating around our house these days… “ohhhh, SALTY!” OR, “You’re being soooo SALTY!” Isn’t it funny when the newer generation comes up with their new slang or vernacular? If you haven’t heard the term before, think of it in terms of a person who has the same kind of savory bite like salt. It basically means that, you are upset and throwing a bunch of sass. I decided that with three teenage girls and a truck load of sassy friends they all needed a special tee that describes them to a “T.” After a particularly rough afternoon with one of my girls the perfect saying popped into my head, “Salty but Super Sweet.” That’s exactly how I felt in the moment. She was being so hard to deal with, yet under it all, I know that she is, and will always be SUPER SWEET. That’s when I set to work to design a perfect DIY t-shirt for her and all of the other “SALTY” ladies in my life using my Cricut Explore Air 2 and my FAVORITE Rose Gold Iron-On Foil!

Materials for the DIY T-Shirt

I ran over to my local Michaels and grabbed some of their black v-neck t-shirts in their fabulous t-shirt section. Have you checked that out yet? You can get all kinds of sizes, colors, youth, adult and even v-neck tees. The v-neck that I bought was $5.99 AND… If you keep and eye-out, they usually have some crazy awesome sales on the t-shirts that make them an even better deal.

I decided that with a “SALTY” kind of tee, I needed to use a material for the graphics that REALLY stood-out. I combed through Cricut’s vast array of iron-on materials and selected the metallic Rose Gold Iron-On Foil. I’ve become a HUGE fan of all of their foils and this one REALLY does not disappoint. It adheres to the t-shirt fabric beautifully and looks fabulous against the black tee.

I’ve used other iron-on materials from other brands and sadly, the materials are peeling off by the end of the day. Incredibly frustrating after spending time & money to create something special just for it to peel off the first time you wear it.

• PRO TIP •

Creating the DIY T-Shirt Design

This is where things get super exciting!! Did you know that you have a couple of different options when it comes to creating designs to use with your Cricut when creating your own shirts or, anything really!

First off, you DON’T have to be a mad designer in order to utilize your Cricut machine. Cricut has made it so easy to browse through a whole library of projects in the Cricut Design Space. If you want to do the whole DIY t-shirt thing and you don’t know where to start, go into Design Space and search the whole Fashion section and you’ll find all kinds of fun ideas.

It’s also easy to create your own designs within Design Space. If you’ve already done some basic design work in other programs like Adobe Elements you’ll feel right at home within Design Space.

If you are more of an advanced designer, you can create designs within programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, save them as .jpg, .gif, .png, .bmp, .svg, or .dxf files and upload them right into design space.

That is one of my favorite ways to create. I’ll be creating and sharing some fun files with you a few times a month so you’ll want to make sure you stop by often to see what the new designs are. I’ll also be creating tutorials to teach you how to create with your Cricut cutting machine along with all kinds of handy PRO TIPS.

Don’t forget, here is the PNG file that you may download to create your own DIY T-shirt with my Salty but Super Sweet design… Here is the download file for the Salty but Super Sweet tee. This is for personal use only please.

It’s time to get creating, go grab your Cricut and let’s get our creative juices flowing!

Disclaimer – I am a proud member of the Cricut team and look forward to sharing my experiences with you every month. As always, I will never share with you a product that I don’t absolutely LOVE and use often in my everyday life. This post does contain affiliate links and I am paid to cover my time and materials when creating these posts.

Lighted Floral Swag | Perfect to Add a Little Romance to Any Room

10 · Mar 2, 2017 · Leave a Comment

I know the majority of the country is looking forward to a little Spring heading their way. There is nothing better than some early spring blooms to help you out of the winter doldrums, but, if you’re still knee deep in snow… They aren’t going to show up any time soon. That’s when the Floral Market at Michaels should be your next stop ASAP!! Refreshing your home for spring is as easy as swapping out a few décor pieces or adding pretty faux florals. Or, you can make a Lighted Floral Swag to add a little romance to your room. Michaels has everything you need to get started!

How beautiful is THAT! Won’t that brighten-up your dull, gray day?

I started with these lovely flowers from the Michaels Flower Market…

Then I grabbed two different kinds of led lights to add a little flair…

This fun vintage style string of Edison LED light bulbs and then just your basic LED string lights. The next item I needed was some great branches from out in the back yard. If you don’t have any fallen branches, scour your neighborhood and see if your neighbors would be willing to part with some of theirs. You can even buy branches at your local garden center if needed.

Lighted Floral Swag Instructions

First, I wired my branches together with floral wire and used some twine to create loops to hang the branches from. Then I wrapped them with the wire LED lights first.

Don’t worry about the battery packs that you can see on the sides. Those will be hidden later on with the flowers. You’ll also need to trim your twine to make it look nice.

Next, I draped the light bulb string loosely around the branches.

I love how those bulbs look hanging from the branches!

Finally, I hot glue my flowers to the branches. I wanted kind of a minimalist look for this swag, but, you can go totally crazy with the blooms if you’d like. It’s totally up to your preferences.

I completed the look with a few old pieces from around the house, plus a new FABULOUS foot stool from Michaels!!

I mean how cool is that footstool?! I also grabbed that yummy gold “hello” at Michaels as well in the same section. I just adore it all!

This project is super easy! Run on over to Michaels to grab your favorite florals and get started. Let’s start Spring off with a lovely BLOOM!

Looking for more inspiration? Make sure you visit Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ Spring Refresh project ideas.

An InLinkz Link-up

Using Cricut Faux Leather + Gold Foil to Dress-up Your Home

15 · Feb 15, 2017 · 2 Comments

5 stylist walk into a bar… Alright, maybe not a bar. A glorious industrial blank space in the heart of Salt Lake, they have 3 Cricut Explore Air 2 machines, new bedroom furniture from Hayneedle and all kinds of Cricut tools & materials. One stylist says…

Alright, this is starting to sound like a really bad joke. The strange thing is, it really happened. I had the great opportunity to head out to Salt Lake to share in the creation of a fun bedroom space with some great blog friends. Hayneedle graciously supplied the basic room elements and then we had the assignment to add a little pizzaz to the space. The main themes were industrial, softened up with a little romantic floral flair. My assignment was the chair and then heading up the collaboration of one of the gallery walls.

For the chair, I created a classic pillow using the Cricut Faux Leather and designed a fun wreath using crafting pearls from Michaels for the “berries.”

I LOVED how it turned out… It added just enough personality to make the beautiful chair from Hayneedle SING!

I then worked on a super fun piece of wall art that I adore…

Since the room was going to have a floral flair, I thought a playful quote on the wall would look fantastic. I found this quote and then set to designing it so that would tie the other wall art pieces from the other designers together. I decided to use the AAAAMAZING Adhesive Gold Foil from Cricut for this piece and I ADORED how it turned out.

Come on over to the Cricut Blog to see WHO the other stylist are, see the rest of the projects, learn how to RE-CREATE what I designed and see the COMPLEATED ROOM. PLUS, you’ll have a chance to WIN the whole room for yourself!! You won’t want to miss out on that!

Disclaimer + I am a Cricut Ambassador and this post does have affiliate links. Please know, I will NEVER promote a company or product that I don’t truly believe in and use myself.

DIY Creative Station for the Family

22 · Jan 2, 2017 · Leave a Comment

It’s a new year and time to organize, organize, organize! Time to take down that lovely tree and pack it up for another year. Time to give away what no longer works in your home and make your space fresh and full of life. I always love this time of year. The time of fresh starts and organizing your home to make it (and yourself) the best it can be! One thing I really want to embrace for the new year is to take time to be creative. Just sit down, grab a sheet of paper, a few creative supplies and let myself go for a little while. With that in mind, I thought it would be fun to create a DIY Creative Station that will inspire the whole family!

Now, I typically don’t have a problem being creative and playing around with all kinds of fun goodies and gadgets, but… I have a really hard time sharing with others! You would think that at my age I would have learned that simple rule. But I like to keep my stuff nice and organized and if I open that space up the the family, it turns into total chaos! How sad is that? I’ve deprived them of all of the fun tools and creative goodies that I get to play with everyday. Now, I’m not a total troll. They already have a simple station with basic things they need to complete homework projects and stuff, but that’s about it. AND, it sure isn’t dressed-up in an inspiring way.

This months Michaels Makers Fresh Start Challenge is a great way to give my family a bit of a creative fresh start and create a safe space for them to use.

What is your family in need of? Do you need an updated homework station? A new calendar to organize activities? Do your kiddo’s rooms need a little organization help? Is your kitchen in need of a FRESH START? Whether it’s planning the family schedule, cleaning out your pantry or getting the kiddos ready to head back to school, Michaels has everything you need to help you get organized this year.

One thing that I love at Michaels is all of the amazing organization tools, I’m kind of a box and basket nerd. I love to find things that can keep you organized and also dress up your space. I especially love the new rolling carts from Cre8ted Space at Michaels

Doesn’t it remind you of school? As a kid I always envied my teacher and her lovely rolling carts. I know, I’m a bit of a nerd that way. This new cart at Michaels kind of had that vibe ( FYI they are on sale this week!) BUT, I wanted to dress it up in my own special way. I grabbed my favorite Mod Podge and some extra large paper from Mambi…

It was a cinch to Mod Podge (or Decoupage) the paper right onto the removable shelve from the cart.

It took no time at all for the Mod Podge to dry and harden to create a lovely surface for my new cart. I LOVE IT!!

I then grabbed one of my favorite Heidi Swapp® Wall Art Words, (that’s the “Create” you see here) and glued it to the front of the cart. Actually, I used Heidi’s Color Shine spray to dress-up our “Create” first.

I knew for the top of my cart I wanted one of those amazing Recollections™ Storage Desktop Carousels. I’ve been wanting one of those for years!

I filled it will all kinds of great creative supplies that the whole family can use. Now, keep in mind… My kiddos are a little older and can handle having Sharpies and scissors out. If your kiddos are younger you should find more age appropriate supplies.

I found some great boxes to store other things like paper and paint to round out the creative cart.

It’s PERFECT!!

This lives right in our kitchen. The place where we spend most of our time and it’s ready to help inspire us to be creative at any time of the day.

Looking for more organization inspiration? Make sure you visit the Michaels’ blog, The Glue String, to see the rest of the Michaels Makers’ organization project ideas.

Here are more great ideas from the other amazing Michaels Makers!

An InLinkz Link-up

I Will NEVER Go Grocery Shopping Again

16 · Dec 21, 2016 · 1 Comment

Yep, it’s true! My days of grocery shopping are over and boy, I couldn’t be happier! This is my “yee haw, no more playing Frogger in the isles with other shoppers, no more wasted time wandering the store looking for items on my list, no more standing in line waiting to checkout while I’m in a rush!” I’m done.

Now don’t get me wrong; there are times when I enjoy a nice trip to the store when it’s on my terms. Not when I’m rushed for time and my fridge is empty and apparently so is everyone else’s fridge. It may seem strange, but my husband and I enjoy a nice stroll through the store together at times. They are our grocery shopping dates and I LOVE that time hunting and gathering for our family together. I wish all shopping trips were like that. Sadly, they are not.

I especially find the heading to the market around holiday times challenging. The store is extra crowded with everyone madly trying to gather all of the necessary ingredients to help make their family’s holiday magical. Strangely enough, there doesn’t ever seem to be a whole lot of holiday cheer in those isles. Just a whole bunch of shoppers feeling the pressure of the season and wanting to get this shopping trip over with as fast as possible. Not my favorite.

I know many people have started grocery shopping online through various different stores and even though I’m not a huge fan of grocery shopping, I was leery. I’m pretty picky about my produce and what if they give me subpar fruits & veggies? Would we be charged for the service? Will I be getting the best deal when I don’t have the option of shopping the different brands and sale prices? What about price matching, how does that figure into the equation? Will it still be a pain trying to navigate their websites? So many questions and quite honestly, I was just a little too intimidated to try the process. I guess I’ve been conditioned to think that there is always a catch. If it’s seems to good to be true, than it probably is. Negative, I know, but that’s is just how we are conditioned these days. Am I wrong?

Then I received an email asking if I would be interested in checking out the new Walmart Grocery program. Again, I was about to say, “no thanks, not for me. I have developed a strong glass half empty attitude when it comes to grocery shopping and Scrooge like, I plan on keeping it for years to come!”

I then sat back for a moment and thought, “how bad could it really be?”

The world is ever changing and if I refuse to evolve and get stuck in my ways, how will I ever progress. This could be a real opportunity for my family to have more time together. I will have more time and less frustration in my life for sure. It’s O.K. to let go of some of my controlling nature and not get so freaky about my veggies. I mean really, we could all use a few extra items off our plates, right?

I threw the question out to you guys on Facebook and several of you came back with really positive replies so I decided to give it a go.

First off, the website is super user friendly AND they have an app. I decided I wanted to do all of my Christmas meal shopping via Walmart Grocery and completely avoid the crazy Holiday crowds.

Not only did I avoid the crowds at Walmart, I shopped IN BED!!

I made a list of all of my recipes and using the search option on the website I quickly found all of my items and scheduled a time for pick-up the following day between 9-10 am.

The next morning at 9:00 am I received a message on my phone that my order was ready to pick-up. I dropped my little guy off at the bus and while sitting at the bus stop, I checked-in on the app and let them know I was on the way.

They then track you via GPS and know exactly when you arrive. Um, crazy awesome! They have designated parking at the store clearly marked and easy to find.

Before I could even pull out my phone to dial the number on the sign, Kim (my personal shopper) came out of the door with my order in hand.

She was SUPER SWEET and we chit chatted about the amazing weather we were having that morning. She even had a welcome kit with all kinds of goodies in it for me.

That’s pretty classy Walmart, well played. It had a bottle of water, some snacks, a nice lotion… it was amazing! They didn’t know I was a blogger and that I was scoping them out, they give the goods to everyone.

Kim was so good about explaining the program to me and letting me know all of the perks. Like for example, if they are sold out of an item they will… Well, I’ll let them explain it for you. They’ll do it better anyway.

How cool is that? Kim even explained about the fabulous Savings Catcher at Walmart.com that does all of the price matching at area stores for me! Did you hear that? THEY DO IT FOR ME! If it can get even better… Kim went through all of my produce with me to make sure they were acceptable. I didn’t even have to ask!

Walmart Grocery Produce acceptance process

So here’s the bottom line…They have no mark-up on their prices, they don’t charge for the service, they let me check to make sure my fruits and veggies are up to par, they price match for me, they even load them in the car for me. I’m totally sold and will never go grocery shopping (unless I WANT to) EVER AGAIN!Sometimes, something is truly GOOD without any catches! In true Dickens fashion, I have come to find that there is good in the grocery shopping world and I can actually save TIME and money at Walmart!

Food

Materials for the DIY T-Shirt

• PRO TIP •

Creating the DIY T-Shirt Design

Lighted Floral Swag Instructions

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